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How has leaf tailed geckos adapted to survive in the Amazon Rainforest? -…

- - - - Predators: Owls, Rats, Snakes
      - Diet: Carnivore
      - Type: Reptile
      - Main Prey: Spiders, Insects, Worms
    - - Skin Type: Scales
      - Top Speed: 30 mph
      - Lifespan: 2-9 years
      - Weight: 10-30g
      - Length: 10-30cm
      - Color: Black, Brown, Green
    - - They have large eyes without eyelids. To keep their eyeballs moist, they lick them periodically.
      - If dirt gets on or in the eye of the gecko, the reptile removes it in the same way that they moisten the surface – with their tongue.
      - The size of this lizard can vary drastically, growing 4 to 12 inches at their adult length. The giant leaf-tailed gecko is already 2 inches long when it is initially born.
      - The skin of the leaf tailed gecko resembles the rough bark of the tree, allowing them to hide from predators.
      - Each of the toes of these lizards contains millions of microscopically small plates that allow them to move effortlessly on smooth surfaces.
  - - - Leaf-tailed geckos have long, flat bodies with triangular heads and broad, leaf-like tails.
      - They have big, marbled eyes with red concentric striations around the pupil set against a background of silver, tan or gold.
      - These lizards have a mottled pattern, with colors varying across species from tans and greens to grays and browns.
      - They also possess the ability to camouflage with the colors of their environment, as well as the shapes and vegetation of the forests they inhabit. Fringed flaps on their lower jaws and the sides of their bodies flatten against a surface, obscuring their outline. The increased surface area reflects and refracts light, breaking the line between the perimeter of their body and the surface beneath them. With these adaptations, leaf-tailed geckos can almost completely camouflage against dry leaves or the bark of trees.
      - They have lamellae on their feet that enable them to be great climbers. Geckos are capable of tail regeneration, so their tail will grow back if it is chopped off.
    - - They inhabit humid, intact forests in lowlands and at elevations of 800 meters (about 2,625 feet). During the day, branches, tree trunks and leaf litter provide areas of camouflage where the geckos can rest out of sight from predators.
      - Giant leaf-tailed geckos are carnivorous and eat a variety of invertebrates. Land snails make up an important part of their diet. At the Smithsonian's National Zoo, these geckos eat a range of insects.
      - Female leaf-tailed geckos lay two to three eggs per clutch and may have up to three clutches per year. The eggs are laid on the forest floor, where they take up to 95 days to hatch.
    - - While at rest, the leaf-tailed gecko's head faces downward against the surface it is resting on. If disturbed, however, it exhibits an impressive threat display. The gecko opens its jaws wide, exposing a bright red mouth and emitting a loud distress call that resembles a child's scream.
- - - - Arapaima
      - Black Caiman (Main)
      - Bull Shark
      - Electric Eel
      - Giant Otter
      - Green Anaconda
      - Happy Eagle
      - Jaguar
    - - Bird
      - Monkey
      - Bat
      - Grasshopper
      - Iguana
      - Frog
      - Wild Pig
      - Ocelot
  - - - Introduction: Rainforests around the world are continuously cut down to make room for raising crops, particularly soy, and cattle farming. This has been exacerbated in recent years, as many parts of the world have emerged from poverty such as in Asia, Africa, and South America. Every citizen deserves the right to live a dignified life full of opportunities, but unfortunately the rate of population growth – and specifically the rate of meat consumption – is having a drastic impact on the Amazon. These growing industries also displace small farmers, forcing them into forested areas which they must clear to sustain themselves.
      - Fact: Cattle pastures occupy 80% of the deforested areas in the Amazon. Pasture run-off contaminates rivers. Fires used to manage fields often spread into the remaining forests. The deforestation caused by ranching also contributes to climate change, releasing 340 million tons of carbon into the atmosphere each year. Cattle ranching, and secondary activities related to livestock, are the single largest contributor to deforestation. In recent news, Brazil’s Congress has passed legislation that would soften environmental regulations protecting the Amazon. This would be tragic. The World Wildlife Fund has more on this topic here. Rainforest Cruises hopes that this new legislation is vetoed so that forests continue to have strong protection, safeguarding the future of the world’s precious biodiversity for generations to come.
      - Solution: Introduce crops and livestock that do not require large plots and quickly wear out the land. Consider reducing your consumption of beef and think about participating in the local food movement, to reduce pressure on delicate ecosystems overseas.
    - - Introduction: Amazon river fish are the main source of food and income for many Amazonian people. The amount of fish needed to feed a growing population, however, may lead to over-fishing, especially if large industries are harvesting fish in order to export to foreign markets. In many parts of the Amazon, large, industrial trawlers armed with gill nets scoop up entire schools of fish in an entirely unsustainable attempt to bring food to market.
      - Fact: Up to 60% of their catch is lost to spoilage.
      - Solution: Introduce commercial fishing regulations and quotas to avoid massive decreases in fish populations. Set aside reserves, off-limits to large vessels, which will enable traditional fishermen to continue to earn an honest livelihood.
    - - Introduction: People take plants and animals from the Amazon to sell abroad as pets, food, and medicine. Foreigners do not share the enormous profits from these products with the country of origin, and trade in these animals leads to declines in wild populations, normally affecting animals already threatened by habitat destruction and pollution.
      - Fact: According to Interpol, as of 2016 the illegal trade in wildlife is estimated to be worth up to US$20 billion annually. This ranks the illegal wildlife trade as among the most lucrative illicit economies in the world, behind illegal drugs and possibly human trafficking and arms trafficking.
      - Solution: Exporting and importing countries are enforcing strict penalties against smugglers.
    - - Introduction: Many people illegally hunt animals to sell as food and raw materials for finished products. Animals, like the giant Amazon river turtle, the “Paiche,” and the Amazon Manatee are vanishing from the wild.
      - Fact: The wildlife harvest takes a staggering number of animals: every year in the Brazilian Amazon alone, 9.6 to 23.5 million mammals, birds, and reptiles are harvested.
      - Solution: Develop new, environmentally-friendly ways for Amazonian people to make a living … although this is admittedly a vague statement.
    - - Introduction: Large hydroelectric projects, funded by international aid and development organizations like the World Bank, have led to widespread forest loss. Besides inundating large tracts of rainforest (dams in the Amazon are generally ecologically inefficient because large tracts of forest are flooded due to the flatness of the basin) and killing off local wildlife, the dams have the effect of destroying aquatic habitats and affecting fish populations, displacing indigenous peoples, and adding carbon to the atmosphere (as the submerged wood rots).
      - Fact: Tropical rainforest waters are highly threatened today by hydroelectric damming projects, erosion from deforestation, overfishing, and poisoning from oil and chemical spills. The effects from the degradation of these waters are widespread, inflicting damage on the global economy, the environment, and local peoples.
      - Solution: Any hydroelectric project needs to be thoroughly reviewed with an environmental impact assessment before approval. New energy alternatives should be explored which mitigate negative impacts on the environment.
    - - Introduction: （1）Hardwood trees provide wood for furniture, building materials, and charcoal. （2）Without trees to hold it in place, soil washes into the river and smothers fish. （3）Working in remote forest areas, loggers often use false permits, ignore limitations of legal permits, cut species protected by law, and steal from protected areas and indigenous lands. （4）These are often small or medium scale operations that are able to avoid detection because of the remoteness of the logging locations, the weak presence of the federal environmental agencies, and a complex chain-of-custody in the cutting, hauling, and transporting of the logs.
      - Fact: Since 1970, over 600,000 square kilometers (232,000 square miles) of Amazon rainforest have been destroyed
      - Solution: Increase funding for government protection of the forests and replanting trees. Educating the population that forested areas play an instrumental role in stabilizing the climate, storing carbon, producing rainfalls, allowing for the sustainable harvest of forest products, and providing habitat for animals.
    - - Introduction: (1) Many everyday items are made from minerals mined in the Amazon basin. (2) Fish die when miners wash harmful chemicals and sediments into rivers. (3) Mining operations often necessitate the construction of access roads into remote areas, enabling loggers, poachers, and ranchers access to lands otherwise inaccessible.
      - Fact: While mining companies boast forest restoration, converting mining sites back to true rainforests is difficult: much of the original ecosystem is lost. Soil and water contamination are other environmental consequences of mining.
      - Solution: Make mining corporations abide by stricter environmental protection laws.
  - - - Examples
        
        Palms
        
        Epiphytes
        
        Vines
        
        Ferns
        
        Lilies
        
        Orchids
        
        Trees
        
        Bromeliads
      - Number
        
        As many as 80,000 plant species
        
        More than 40,000 of those species play a critical role in regulating the global climate and sustaining the local water cycle.
      - Most Important
        
        Seringueira (AKA Rubber)
        
        Mostly 100 feet tall
        
        The rubber sap produced by the trees is used for the manufacturing of latex that is still used in the present era for the production of goods made with rubber and specials tires of cars.
        
        About 99% of the world's natural rubber is produced from a fast-growing tree native to the lowland forests of the Amazon Basin.
    - - Examples
        
        Birds
        
        Spix's Macaw (Least Common)
        
        Hummingbird (Most Common)
        
        Amphibians
        
        Mammals
        
        Squirrel Monkey (Most Common)
        
        Pygmy Three-Toed Sloth (Least Common)
        
        Jaguar (Most Dangerous)
        
        Reptiles
    - - Tribes
        
        Akuntsu
        
        Awá
        
        Brazilian Indians
        
        Nukak
        
        Indians of Raposa-Serra do Sol
        
        Peru’s uncontacted Indians
        
        Yanomami (Most Famous)
      - Number
        
        The Amazon Rainforest is a home to about 1 million Indians.
        
        They are divided into about 400 tribes, each with its own language, culture and territory.
        
        Many have had contact with outsiders for almost 500 years. Others – ‘uncontacted’ tribes – have had no contact at all.