Costa Rica is home to a rich variety of plants and animals.
Flora and Fauna .
While the country has only about 0.1% of the world's landmass, it contains 5% of the world's biodiversity. Around 25% of the country's land area is in protected national parks and protected areas, the largest percentual of protected areas in the world.
Costa Rica is one of the biologically wealthiest nations in the world. While the country has only about 0.25% of the
world’s landmass, it contains almost 5% of the
world’s biodiversity. Costa Rica, which means
“Rich Coast”, has the largest percentage of protected areas in the world. From the forested mountains to the coral reefs off both coasts, this small country treasures an incomparable diversity of flora and fauna.
● Costa Rica Flora and Fauna
Costa Rica has an extraordinary abundance of flora, with more than 9,000 species of 'higher' plants, and more being discovered every day. There are 800 species of ferns alone, 1,400 species of gorgeous orchids, and thirty species of heliconias (birds of paradise). There is a fast turnover of nutrients within the soils, and root systems therefore tend to be very shallow. With a magnifying glass, you can identify several plant species barely a millimeter high, and therefore it is impossible to identify and catalog all the species in even one acre, let alone thousands of square kilometers. In Costa Rica there are tropical rainforests, tropical dry forests largely turned into cattle country, cloud forests, and mangrove estuaries along the shorelines, each with its own cornucopia of plant species.
● Jaguar
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The jaguar is a New World mammal of the Felidae family and one of four " big cats " in the Panthera genus , along with the tiger , lion , and leopard of the Old World . The jaguar is the third-largest feline after the tiger and the lion, and on average the largest and most powerful feline in the Western Hemisphere .
This spotted cat most closely resembles the leopard physically, although it is usually larger and of sturdier build and its behavioural and habitat characteristics are closer to those of the tiger. The jaguar has developed an exceptionally powerful bite, even relative to the other big cats. This allows it to pierce the shells of armoured reptiles and to employ an unusual killing method: it bites directly through the skull of prey between the ears to deliver a fatal blow to the brain .
● Mammals of Costa Rica .
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Costa Rica is home to nearly 250 species of mammal. Medium-sized forest-dwelling mammals are often the most appreciated mammalian fauna of country. These include monkeys such as the frantic
White-headed Capuchin and noisy Mantled Howlers ; two species of aptly named sloths ; the opportunistic White-nosed Coati ; and the fierce predator, the Tayra .
Bats comprise more than half of the mammal species in the country, unusually outnumbering rodents twice over. Their bats are adapted
to various foraging methods and foods; including nectar , fish ,
insects and parasitized blood ,as the case with the infamous vampire bats . Prominent bats include the tiny, communal-roosting Honduran white bat and the huge, predatory Spectral Bat , the largest new
world bat. Large fauna, such as tapir , jaguar and deer are rarely encountered, being both elusive and tied to
now-fragmented undisturbed habitats.
● Toucans are a family, Ramphastidae in Cetral America .
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Toucans are a family, Ramphastidae, of near-passerine birds from the neotropics (i.e. Southern Mexico, Centra America, South American, and Caribbean region). The family is most closely related to the American barbets..
● In Aztec Mythology .
The ancient Aztecs believed that the toucan's beak was created from rainbows . It was said to be the toucans' reward for being messengers of the gods. The Aztecs would perform ancient rituals worshiping the toucans, believing that because their beak was created from rainbows, that the gods would grant them rain. The ritual involved a member of the chosen family to wear a headress of toucan feathers, and plead the toucan for rain.
● Wildlife of Costa Rica and List of birds of Costa Rica .
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Female Anhinga drying its feathers, Costa Rica
Costa Rica is home to a rich variety of plants
and animals . While the country has only about 0.1% of the world's landmass, it contains
5% of the world's biodiversity . Around 25% of the country's land area is
in protected national parks and protected
areas the largest percentual of protected
areas in the world.
Tortuguero National Park – is home to spider , howler and white-throated Capuchin monkeys,
the three-toed sloth , 320 species of birds (including eight species of parrots ), a variety
of reptiles , but is mostly recognized for the annual nesting of the endangered green turtle and is considered the most important nesting site for this species. Giant leatherback , hawksbill , and loggerhead turtles also nest here.
The Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve is home to about 2,000 plant species , including numerous orchids .
Over four hundred types of birds can be found here, and over one hundred species of mammals .
As a whole, around eight hundred species of birds have been identified in Costa Rica.
● Insects of Costa Rica .
There are about 1,250 species of butterflies and at least 8,000 species of moths .
Butterflies and moths are common year round but are more present during the rainy season.
Ecotourism is one of Costa Rica's primary economic resources, and the country's butterflies add a lot to that. They bring life to rainforests , not only with the diversity in colour, but with the magnificence of the flowers that they help pollinate.
Other invertebrates Invertebrate species make up most of Costa Rica's wildlife. Of the estimated 505,000 species, about 493,000 are invertebrates (including spiders and crabs . It is known that there are tens of thousands of insects and microscopic invertebrates in every land type and elevation level. However, they are largely unnoticed or unidentified. Some notable insects in Costa Rica are stingless bees , ants such as leaf-cutter ants and army ants , Hercules beetle , and many katydids
● Costa Rica Crocodiles
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Costa Rica Crocodiles have been on Earth for hundreds of millions of years, with few evolutionary changes, and they remain one of the most predatorily rainforest animals. Smaller in size, the caiman is a frequent sight in some lowland rivers. You can safely take great pictures of both and enjoy sightings of rainforest animals in your Costa Rican vacation.
In the Costa Rican tropical rainforest you can see some of the largest crocodiles in the world (apart from the Australian and African varieties), and our farm has in residence a 4 m (12 feet) individual, although in the wild crocodiles can grow to about 5-6 mts. Despite their more than 3,000 pounds per square inch of jaw power (by far the strongest bite of any animal thanks to their powerfully developed jawbone muscles), female crocodiles take motherly care of their offspring, carrying them in their mouths and protecting them for some months after hatching. Crocodiles are very fast over short distances, even out of water.
● ● Biodiversity in Costa Rica .
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Costa Rica is home to around 175 amphibians , 85% of which are frogs . Frogs in Costa Rica have interesting ways of finding fishless water to raise their young in. Fish, of course, will eat tadpoles and eggs. Poison Dart Frogs put their eggs in water pools in bromeliads . Other methods include searching ponds before laying eggs, and laying eggs in wet soil. There are 35 species of Elutherodoctylus frogs, 26 species of Hyla frogs and 13 species of glassfrogs .
Notable frog species in Costa Rica include Red-eyed Tree Frog , a few species of Poison Dart Frogs , the semitransparent glassfrogs , and the large Smoky Jungle Frog . Some other notable toad species in Costa Rica include the ten species of Bufo toads, and the Giant toad a huge toad known for its wide appetite.
Biodiversity is a resource with enormous potential, both for intellectual and economic purposes and as an instrument for a country's development.
The tropical zones of the American continent (Neotropics), where Costa Rica is located, contain a greater diversity of species and ecosystems, as well as a broader range of interactions, compared with other tropical regions of the world. Obviously, this diversity is also much greater than that of temperate and cold regions.
The tropical zones of the American continent (Neotropics), where Costa Rica is located, contain a greater diversity of species and ecosystems, as well as a broader range of interactions, compared with other tropical regions of the world. Obviously, this diversity is also much greater than that of temperate and cold regions.
With a land area of only 51.100 km2 (0.03% of the planet's surface) and 589.000 km2 of territorial waters, Costa Rica is considered to be one of the 20 countries with greatest biodiversity in the world . Its geographic position, its two coasts and its mountainous system, which provides numerous and varied microclimates, are some of the reasons that explain this natural wealth, both in terms of species and ecosystems. The more than 500,000 species that are found in this small country represent nearly 4% of the total species estimated worldwide. Of these 500,000 species, just over 300,000 are insects .
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