Amazonia

Axolotl

Ambystoma mexicanum

It is a salamander endemic of some Mexican lagoons. Axolotls are unusual among amphibians in the sense that they reach adulthood without undergoing metamorphosis, that is, they larvatic during its entire life. They have nocturnal habits.

Baron’s green racer

Philodryas baroni

They are strictly arboreal species. Their green colour and aspect give them an excellent camouflage. They usually spend a great part of the day hanging still on the trees, waiting for catching lizards, amphibians, bats or birds. The poison is inoculated from their tusks that are located at the back of the jaw. This poison can immobilize their preys.

Giant wood-rail

Aramides ypecaha

This species lives in rivers and lagoon shores. At sunrise and sunset it gathers in groups. Its name was taken by its singular singing. It feeds on seeds, fruits, insects and aquatic invertebrates. This species builts a flattened nest in the trees or with dry grass and branches. It is monogamous.

Gray-winged trumpeter

Psophia crepitans

It is a sociable animal. The gray-winged trumpeter lives in small groups on the forest ground, where it rests, bathes and looks for insects and fallen fruits of the trees. At night, it prefers to settle on the tree branches. It emits a variety of sounds to warn of the danger, to mark territory or to intimidate any intruder. It is a docile species. Several males specimens can mate a single female. Breeding and feeding is made by several members of the group.

Green Arasarí

Pteroglossus viridis

Green iguana

Iguana iguana

Lives in mangrove swamps, forests and thickly-vegetated river banks. It is arboreal and is a good swimmer. Its skin is covered with scales and it has a dorsal crest of dermal spines. It uses its tail like a whip to defend itself. Feeds on leaves, flowers and fruit.

Lady Amherst’s pheasant

Chrysolophus amherstiae

It lives in the undergrowth of dense forests. The female has a cryptic colouring whereas the male presents a striking plumage. It is polygamous. During courtship, the male performs a series of jumps and emits loud harsh screeches. It sleeps in the trees and feed on grains, leaves, fruits and invertebrates.

Mata mata

Chelus fimbriatus

This species spends much of its time underwater in the bottom of rivers and swamps of shallow depth and slow flow. Its camouflage and its static behaviour make it unnoticed by its predators, allowing it to hunt more easily. When a fish or invertebrate is nearby, the matamata opens its large mouth as wide as possible and swallows it whole. It has big external eardrums that detect movements. The nose resembling a tube allows it to breath without surfacing.

Northern cardinal

Cardinalis cardinalis

The Northern cardinal is a mid-sized bird that lives in forests and swamps. It has a distinctive crest on the head and a black mask around the bill. It shows sexual diformism in its colours, with the male a vibrant red and the female greyish-brown. It feeds on seed, sometimes eats insects and fruits. It is monogamous and territorial. Adults choose a dense tree where the female builds the nest while the male feeds to her.

Red eye treefrog

Agalychnis callidryas

It is an arboreal frog that lives in the vegetation of rainforests close to the rivers. Its suction cups on its toes enable it to adhere to the back side of the leaves, where it rests during the day. Feeds on insects. It is toxic.

Six banded armadillo

Euphractus sexcinctus

It is an armoured mammal with the body coated with hard plates similar to rings covered with grey-brown tiny hair. It is a shy animal with diurnal habits. It has strong claws for digging and constructing burrows, used for protection and reproduction. Its scent glands located at the base of its tail are used to mark its territory. It is a good swimmer. Its diet is varied consisting of roots and tubers, worms, insects, carrion, and small vertebrates.

Southern two-toed sloth

Choloepus didactylus

It is a strictly arboreal animal. Its limbs end in two toes with two long curved claws that enable it to latch onto the trees branches and remain hung. Its slow movements help it elude predators. Its long hair has an unusual growth pattern. It feeds on leaves and fruit.

Spangled cotinga

Cotinga cayana

White-lipped tamarin

Saguinus labiatus

It is a small primate endemic to the humid forests of Bolivia, Brasil and Perú. It is diurnal and arboreal. It feeds on fuits, flowers, nectar, sap, fungi and small animals. It is territorial and lives in family groups with a dominant breeding pair. The rest of the group is made up of their descendants who help in the care of the offspring. They communicate trhough scents and vocalizations.

White-throated toucan

Ramphastos tucanus

Males ­­­­are larger and longer-billed than females, but otherwise the sexes are alike. They are mainly frugivorous animals. Its bill is used to reach the fruits. It gobbles the whole fruit with a sudden shake of its neck. Its diet consists of insects, caterpillars and small reptiles. Nests are made inside tree holes. It lives alone, in pairs or in small flocks. It produces a deep growl that can be heard in a long distance.

Blue passion flower

Passiflora caerulea

It is a woody climbing plant native to South America. It can reach up to 20 m (65 ft) high if supporting trees are available to tangle. The leaves are five-lobed. The base of each leaf has a tendril which twines around supporting vegetation to hold the plant up. The flower is white and complex with yellow stamens and purple stigmas. It produces edible orange berries with numerous seeds. It is highly appreciated as food for mammals and birds.

Cockspur coral tree

Erythrina crista-galli

The cockspur coral tree, is a small, deciduos and flowering tree to 5-10 m, in the family Fabaceae, native to North Argentina, Uruguay, southern Brazil and Paraguay. This species characteristically grows wild in gallery forest ecosystems along watercourses, as well as in swamps and wetlands. In urban settings, it is often planted in parks for its bright red flowers. The root is a taproot with nodules produced by nitrogen-fixing bacteria. The flowers are rich in nectar and are visited by insects.

Cuban royal palm

Roystonea regia

It is an elegant American palm. Its grey-white colour of the trunk, similar to a column, can reach up to 25 m (82 ft). It finishes in a tuft of green leaves. It is a honey plant. Its pollen is preferred by bats. Root nodules contain Rhizobium, a bacteria associated with nitrogen fixation of air in its roots. It grows widely in Cuba.

Expanded lobsterclaw

Heliconia latispatha

It is a big and vigorous herb up to 2-3 m (6-9 ft) tall with a growing similar to those of bananas. It is spread throughout the all tropical America. The leaves are big and simple with a bright green margin. The flowers are formed in a spiral pattern around a pendant with red and yellow bracts. It produces nectar. Pollination is made by hummingbird

Feijoa

Acca selloviana

It is a shrub native to central South America. It is an evergreen species. The leaves are simple, leathery, bright green in the beam with silvery white undersides. Flowers are solitary with a great number of dark red stamens. The green fruit is fleshy, small with a very aromatic flavour and many seeds. Feijoas have several medicinal uses. It is possible to buy fruit drinks and jams of this fruit.

Fountainbush

Russelia equisetiformis

Fountainbush is a perennial multi-branching plant with 1.2-1.5 m (3-4ft) from tropical and subtropical areas from Mexico and Guatemala.The overall graceful form of the subshrub is a fountainesque mound. Their long arching branches have stems and tiny oval leaves are bright green. Its flowers profusely with small decumbent red flowers. It can bloom year round in tropical and subtropical climates. It is a very popular nectar plant for hummingbirds and butterflies.

Indian nut

Thevetia peruviana

This evergreen bush is native to tropical America and can reach up to 5 m (16,5 ft).  Its bark is greyish with lanceolate leaves of dark green colour. Flowers are generally yellow, scented and funnel-shaped. Its fruit is deep red in colour encasing a large seed. It is used medicinally throughout to help reducing fat. It is an ornamental species.

Jacaranda

Jacaranda mimosifolia

With a semi-persistent foliage it is a tree native to tropical and subtropical regions of South America, although widely common in other regions. The big leaves are bippinate in most species. It can reach up to 10 m (32 ft). The flowers are produced in conspicuous large purple.blue panicles. The fruit is an oblong to oval flattened capsule containing numerous slender seeds. All the plant is poisonous, but it is used to treat gastrointestinal complaints and also in carpenter.

Jelly palm

Butia capitata

It is a solitary species that can reach up to 5 m (16.5 ft) tall. It is endemic of the central-western area of Brazil.  It has feather palm pinnate leaves that arch inwards towards a thick stout trunk.  It can tolerates temperatures down to about -10º C (14ºF). Ripe fruits are creamy yellowish that are the size of large cherry. Taste can vary depending on soil conditions, although it is tart and sweet at the same time.

Night-blooming cestrum

Cestrum nocturnum

It is a shrub native to South America. It is an evergreen plant, although sometimes it may drop leaves during a harsh winter. The small tubular flowers are greenish-white and they release a powerful sweet perfume at night. Flowers occur in clusters. The globose fruit is a white berry. All parts of the plant are highly toxic, although it is used in medical applications.

Paperflower

Bougainvillea glabra

It is a sarmentous bush native to Brazil. It is an evergreen, climbing and woody shrub with thorny branches to hold on to a support. The leaves are bright green. Tiny white flowers are surrounded by deep red papery bracts. It is used in medicine as a remedy to treat respiratory illnesses and gastrointestinal complaints.

Paurotis palm

Acoelorraphe wrightii

It is a small palm native to Florida and tropical and humid areas of Central America and the Caribbean where it grows in swamps, salty areas and periodically flooded forests. The trunk is covered with fibrous matting. The big leaves are palmate (fan-shaped) with spines in the margins. The flowers are diminutive, white and hermaphrodite.

Pink lapacho

Tabebuia impetiginosa

It is a native tree of the tropical area of America, Mexico, the Caribbean, Argentina and Paraguay. The bark is smooth and the leaves are palmately compound. It is a semi-persistent species. It has inflorescences at the end of the branches. The flowers are large, tubular shaped that open before the leaves. The fruit consists of a narrow capsule containing several winged seeds. It is resistant to fire. Its wood is used in building. It is very appreciated in medicine.

Purple secretia

Tradescantia pallida

It is a grassy plant native to the Gulf Coast of Mexico. It is a lively, covering and evergreen plant. It grows in semi-shade areas and can reach up to 30 cm (0,9 ft)  height. It is distinguished by elongated, pointed leaves – themselves glaucous green, fringed with red or purple. They embrace the divided and violet stem. Its growth is fast and it spreads easily. The small pink flowers are grouped in the end of the stems. It is not toxic and it is used for feeding animals.

Queen palm

Syagrus romanzoffiana

It is a medium-sized palm native to Paraguay and the area of influence of the Parana river. Its stem is bare with pinnate leaves becoming an elegant palm. Each plant carries only female or only male flowers. The fruits are orange similar to olives and a sweet flavour making them attractive to birds and climbing animals. It is cultivated as an ornamental plant. It has been introduced in tropical areas around the world, where it has been naturalized. It is sometimes an invasive plant.

Silk fross tree

Chorisia speciosa

It is a species of deciduous tree native to the tropical and subropical forests of South America. Its trunk is bottle shaped, where it stores water. It is resistant to drought and moderate cold, but it grows fast in spurts when water is abundant, and sometimes reaches up to 25 metres (82 ft). Its big pink flowers measure 10 to 15 cm (0,33 to 0,49 ft). Its nectar is known to attract insect pollinators as well as hummingbirds. The cotton inside the fruit pods, although not of as good quality as that of the kapok tree, is soft and flexible and it is employed in industrial uses. From the seed it is possible to obtain vegetable oil.

Spanish moss

Tillandsia usneoides

It is a herbaceous plant native to America, from the south-eastern United States to Argentina. It grows in warm and humid climates. It hangs from tree branches forming hanging and woolly structures of 1 m (3.3 ft) length. It has no roots. The stem is flexible and the leaves are small, thin and curved. The flowers are tiny and aromatic. They propagate by ftragments of stem that blow on the wind or are carried by birds. It is very sensitive to pollution in air.

Trumpet tree

Handroanthus ochraeus

It is a tree native of warm areas of America, from Mexico to Argentina. It can reach up to 20 m (65.6 ft) tall. Its shape is irregular and it flourishes overwhelmingly after the first rains. With semi-persistent foliage, it loses the leaves after flowering. The deep yellow flowers have a long cup similar to a trumpet. The fruit is a legume. Its wood is very resistant and it is used in building.

Virginia creeper

Partenocissus quinquefolia

It is a woody and climbing plant native to Mexico and USA. Its numerous tendrils and adhesive pads allow this plant to adhere to any surface. It can reach up to 15 m (49.2 ft) tall. The leaves are composed of five leaflets. The deciduous leaves turn into deep red in the autumnal cold before the fall. The small flowers are arranged in bunches. It produces deep blue berries. These berries contain toxic amounts of oxalic acid giving them an unpleasant flavour.

Wild-sage

Lantana camara

It is an evergreen shrub native to tropical and subtropical areas of South and Central America. It can grow up to around 1.5 m (4 ft) tall. It is much-branched and produces a strong odour. The stem has a quadrangular shape and the simple leaves are toothed, rough and pubescent. The yellow flowers change to reddish when mature. Its fruit is a shiny black drupe. It spreads in warm climates all around the world.

Winterbourn philodendron

Philodendron xanadu

It is a grassy climbing plant native to Brazil forest. The evergreen leaves are wide and shiny, leathery and with foliar dimorphism, that is, the aspect of the leaves changes at growing. Its aerial roots are used to get fixed to a support. It is an epiphytic plant. The flower is an inflorescence covered and protected by a white bract. The fruit is a berry with a taste similar to the pineapple.

Woody jelly palm

Butia eriospatha

This feather-palm is an endemic species of Southern Brazil. It can be found in areas with elevations ranging ffrom 700 m (2,300 ft) to 1.200 m (3,400 ft) above sea level. Its pendular leaves can reach up to 2 metres (6ft) long and its petiole is long and thorny. The leaves base is covered by a dense dark brown tomentum. Flowers are clustered in male and female inflorescences producing delicious and edible globose fruits.

Yellow trumpetbush

Tecoma stans

It is a small tree or bush native to Mexico and the Caribbean area. It grows in well-drained soils on tropical rainforests. Its beautiful flowers are usually seen in gardens. With more than 56 active ingredients, it is widely used for medicinal use. Its flower produces large quantities of nectar. Its wood is used for building canoes and bows. Its root are used for making beer. It is considered a poisonous plant to livestock.

Yvyrá-pytá

Peltophorum dubium

It is a tree native of humid tropical forests and river shores of Paraguay, Souh of Brasil and Argentina. It is a deciduous tree, with big compound leaves of dark green colour. The wood is strong used in carpentry and hydraulic enterprises due to its high resistence to humidity. The yellow blossom are arranged in bundles that end in spikes. The fruit is a legume. It is used in the Guarani pharmacopoeia. Its name means “large reddish wooden tree”.

Zebrina pendula

Tradescantia zebrina

It is a grassy plant native to South-east America and Mexico. Its creeping or hanging stems are divided and take root in the knots. The oval leaves finish in tip. The upper surface of the leaves is green older and the lower surface is purple. The tiny flowers are located at the end of the pink and violet stems. It has metabolites with medicinal properties