ANIMAL HABITATS 25 



animals of the mid and upper forest. Thus the 

 monkeys and sloths, forest lizards, birds and 

 insects range through the mid and upper forest 

 strata but are only rarely seen, if at all, in the 

 lower levels. 



3. The lower forest stratum. Through this 

 stratum flit the low flying insects and birds; prom- 

 inent among them are the great Morpho butter- 

 flies and several species of humming birds. Into 

 this stratum mount many animals more commonly 

 found on the ground, such as the Anolis lizards 

 mistakenly called chameleons; while everywhere 

 ants are found similar to those of the forest floor 

 rather than to those of the upper forest. 



2. On the forest floor are to be found turtles, 

 ground dwelling snakes, lizards that cannot climb, 

 and the non-climbing, non-burrowing mammals 

 such as the peccary and the tapir. 



1 . Burrowing forms of the subterranean stratum 

 include earthworms, and many termites and, in 

 the dry season at least, the interesting worm-like 

 arthropod, Peripatus. 



To many animals dwelling in the tropical rain- 

 forest even this simplified stratification has little 

 or no meaning. Some, such as Nasua, a relative 

 of our raccoon, range indifferently from the forest 

 floor to the tree-tops; others, like the armadillo 

 belong to the underground and the ground strata. 



