CHAPTER V 
THE FAUNA OF THE TROPICAL FOREST 
Just as the tropical forest as contrasted with the 
temperate is remarkable for its wealth of species of 
trees and for the luxuriance of its undergrowth, so its 
fauna is remarkable for the number of special types. 
Adaptations to life in the tropical forest occur in almost 
all groups of animals, and some orders, like the Primates 
among mammals, are, roughly speaking, fitted for this 
habitat alone, for relatively few of their members occur 
outside this region. 
We may begin by a few words upon the special con- 
ditions which reign here. To begin with, food is abun- 
dant all the year round, for there is no seasonal check 
to vegetation such as occurs in temperate climates. 
The absence of seasons, in the sense in which they 
occur in higher latitudes, makes possible the occur- 
rence of many fruit-eating animals, for fruits occur at 
all seasons. Thus the anthropoid apes are fruit-eaters ; 
the fruit-bats have the same diet, as the name indicates ; 
parrots eat seeds and fruits, and so on. For such 
forms life in colder climates is impossible. 
The constantly high temperature, at least during the 
day, makes a warm coat unnecessary, so that animals 
producing valuable furs are relatively rare. The same 
condition makes reptilian life abundant, for the heat 
of the sun is available to hatch the eggs. The high 
temperature also results in abundance of insects, which 
again feed many other animals. 
As the tropical forest is characterized by a very 
