5 CHAPTER ONE The spider monkey zipped through the treetops The tiny creature searched for water The air in the Amazon Rain Forest was hot and humid The active animal needed a drink Fortunately for the spider monkey water was always nearby The monkey had seen some dripping leaves earlier As the animal moved toward the water it stepped on what looked like a branch covered in WHAT IS A RAIN FOREST Spider monkeys are found in the tropical rain forests of South America and Central America
moss Then the branch started to move It turned out to be a sloth This type of animal sometimes moves so slowly that moss grows on it By the time the spider monkey reached the water a huge spider had already found it A goliath tarantula was quenching its own thirst The monkey backed away from the hairy creature It would wait until the tarantula was finished Life in the rain forest was never boring A Damp Ecosystem Rain forests are dense jungles filled with tall trees They receive much more rainfall than other forests Tropical rain forests can get up to 400 inches 1,000 cm of rain each year These wet environments are ideal for certain types of wildlife Many of these species are only found in rain forests Rain forests cover only about 6 percent of Earth’s surface But they are home to more than half of the world’s plant and animal species 6
Frequent heavy rains make rain forests very damp places 7
