The New Neotropical Companion

The three Neotropical tapir species are separated by

range and habitat, as discussed in chapter 8. The most

widespread is the Brazilian Tapir (Tapirus terrestris;

plate 16- 35), which can be found east of the Andes from

northern South America throughout Amazonia as far

south as Paraguay. The Baird’s Tapir (T. bairdii) ranges

throughout Central America and northern South

America west of the Andes. The Mountain Tapir (T.

pinchaque) has the most restricted range and is, as the

name implies, essentially confined to higher elevations.

It inhabits the páramos of the Central and Eastern

Cordilleras of the Andes, from Colombia to Ecuador.

Tapirs (and peccaries) are widely hunted, often with

dogs, and thus tend to be wary. Hunting pressure

throughout the range of the various tapir species

has seriously reduced populations. Both Baird’s and

Mountain Tapirs are listed as endangered by CITES

and IUCN. The Brazilian Tapir is listed as locally

endangered by CITES and vulnerable by IUCN.

Tapirs are most active at night, and you will be very

lucky if you manage to see one well. Look for tapirs

along watercourses. They are frequent and excellent

swimmers.

Sloths, Anteaters, and Armadillos

Sloths and anteaters are among the most characteristic

(and “must- see”) animals of Neotropical rain forests.

Along with the armadillos, one species of which ranges

into North America, they compose the magnaorder

Xenarthra (also called Edentata), creatures united by a

number of anatomical characteristics. Anteaters, with

their skulls modified for ingesting ants, are toothless,

but sloths and armadillos have peg- like teeth on the

sides of their mouths (front teeth are lacking).

The term sloth, when applied to a person, has come

to mean sluggish, lethargic, dull, and dim- witted. Real

sloths (families Bradypodidae and Megalonychidae)

are probably all of these things. These traits offer a

tremendous advantage to you, however, because it

means they do stick around once you find them. If you

care to watch a sloth move from one tree to another, a

distance that might take a few seconds for a monkey,

plan to spend about a day or so. Sloths lead slow-

motion lives.

The three- toed sloths (genus Bradypus), the favorites

of Charles Waterton, are the most commonly observed.

Four species range throughout Neotropical forests,

the most common of which is the Brown- throated

Three- toed Sloth (B. variegatus; plates 16- 36– 37).

A three- toed sloth looks somewhat like a deformed

monkey. It has shaggy, tan- colored fur, long forearms

and hind legs (but no tail), and a rounded face with

very appealing eyes. Its sad, vacuous expression gives

the impression that the gleam in its eyes is but the

reflection off the back of its skull. The common name

derives from the three sharp, curved claws on each of

its four feet, which serve as hooks as the animal hangs

upside down from a branch, like an odd mammalian

Christmas tree ornament. The easiest way to find a

three- toed sloth is to scan a cecropia, a favorite resting

and feeding tree for sloths. Sloths frequent trees along

riverbanks and disturbed areas and are much easier to

locate in such habitats than in closed forest.

Plate 16- 37. A Brown- throated Three- toed Sloth enjoying

some cecropia fruits. For many years ecologists thought sloths

ate only cecropia leaves, but they are much more diverse in

their vegetarian diets. Photo by Dennis Paulson.

Plate 16- 36. This Brown- throated Three- toed Sloth has

adopted a typical lethargic posture in a cecropia tree. Photo

by Nancy Norman.

chapter 16 from monkeys to tarantulas: endless eccentricities 335