2. Vegetation/Biodiversity
Many different vegetation regions are found in Latin America, and within them, great biodiversity
Variety of life in the world
Savanna
Deciduous forest
Tropical forest
Coniferous forest

3. The most common vegetation regions include:
Tropical rainforest
Savanna/grassland
Desert/desert scrub
Tundra/highland

4. More species are found in the southern countries (Costa Rica and Panama)
Less diversity is found in the northern countries (Guatemala and Belize)
Goldfish plant and red-eyed tree frog
Least diversity is found in the southern countries (Honduras, Nicaragua, and El Salvador)
7% of the world’s biodiversity is in Central America
Latin America is known for great plant and animal biodiversity, especially the southernmost countries
Costa Rica, Panama, and Brazil have some of greatest

5. Vegetarian spider (eats mostly plants)
Toucan iguana
ocelot
Sloth
The sheer number of different animal species which inhabit the Central American rainforest remains unknown. There are about 116 different species of poison dart frogs, which are used by the natives to coat the tips of their poison darts for hunting Read more: Animals & Plants in the Central American Rainforest | eHow.co.uk
One blood-sucking insect, the kissing bug, bite into the lips or other exposed sensitive flesh of sleeping humans. Numerous species of spiders, mosquitoes. Read more: Animals & Plants in the Central American Rainforest | eHow.co.uk
Kissing bug in middle (bites lips and soft tissue of eyes of sleeping victims)

6. Volcanoes have fertilized the soil with mineral nutrients…making it one of the richest areas of biodiversity in the world
Exquisite natural beauty…abundance of unusual food plants (both cultivated and wild)
Heliconias plant (red and yellow)
Dahlia (purple)
Bougainvaeille (hot pink)
Brachycaulus (spiky pink)
A large number of medicines, insecticides and other chemical compounds are derived from rainforest animals and plants. Spices like vanilla, cloves and ginger also grow in the rainforest. Read more: Animals & Plants in the Central American Rainforest | eHow.co.uk
A wide variety of plants find the rich volcanic soil of areas of Latin America very favorable

7. The Amazon River is teeming with life including various fish and reptiles
In the dry season, the Amazon River can be up to 7 miles wide. During the
rainy season, the river bank floods and gets wider. In the rainy season, the
river can be up to 25 miles wide. Many animals live in the river. Some of
the animals in the river are piranhas, dwarf caimans, turtles, and anacondas.
Giant Amazon River turtle lbs
one in five of the fish species live in Amazonian rivers and streams

8. They say the number of fish found in the amazon exceed that found in the entire Atlantic ocean

11. The Amazon rainforest itself is 1
The Amazon rainforest itself is 1.4 billion acres in size and represents over 50% of the world’s remaining rainforest environments
About every 250
acres contains
more than 1,000
types of trees and
thousands of other
plant life
1.4 bill acres
The diversity of plant species is the highest on Earth with some experts estimating that one square kilometer (247 acres) may contain more than a thousand types of trees and thousands of species of other higher plants. According to a 2001 study, a quarter square kilometer (62 acres) of Ecuadorian rainforest supports more than 1,100 tree species.[24]

12. The Amazon is the largest and most species-rich rainforest in the world
1 out of every 10 known animal species in the world are found here
Brazil squirrel monkey and jaguar

13. The Amazon Rainforest contains:
2.5 million insect species
About 1,300 bird species
About 430 amphibian species
378 reptile species
About 425 mammal species
The region is home to about 2.5 million insect species,[20] tens of thousands of plants, and some 2,000 birds and mammals. To date, at least 40,000 plant species, 2,200 fishes[21], 1,294 birds, 427 mammals, 428 amphibians, and 378 reptiles have been scientifically classified in the region.[22] One in five of all the bird species in the world live in the rainforests of the Amazon, and one in five of the fish species live in Amazonian rivers and streams. Scientists have described between 96,660 and 128,843 invertebrate species in Brazil alone.[23]
Brazilian tapir Golden Lion Tamarin

14. Capybara (upper left)
Tree boa