Write the names of the organisms live on the various parts of the tree?
Answers
Answer: What do sloths, koalas, flying snakes, geckos, tarsiers, and opossums all have in common? They form an interesting group of organisms that are adapted to tree-top living. Arboreal animals spend most of their time eating, sleeping, playing and raising their young in the trees.
Gripping feet
Animals that live in trees must be able to hold on tightly. Claws, adhesive pads, flexible ankle joints (such as a squirrel’s) that can turn forwards and backwards are all adaptions useful for staying in place. Arboreal primates have hairless fingertips that allow the animal’s hand to squeeze the branch between the fingertips to generate friction.
sloth eating a leaf
Sloths have extremely long claws that allow them to grip onto branches and hang from below. Photo credit: Christian Mehlführer
How do scientists study the canopy?
As you can imagine, exploring the treetop canopy is not easy for us terrestrial organisms. There is much yet to be discovered in arboreal ecosystems. Those brave enough to harness-up and climb to the top must be very careful not to disturb the plants and animals that make the treetops their home. The most common methods for treetop exploration are similar to what you might find at a high-ropes course – consisting of ropes, hanging walkways and ladders.
Not only must scientists safely climb to the forest canopy, but they must carry along with them their tools and equipment to collect data and specimens. Even more challenging is locating tree dwellers for observation and study. This group of animals tend to be rather elusive and cryptic. Ecologists would love to have the same adaptations as arboreal animals – prehensile tails and brachiating limbs would come in handy!
Engage your students!
Now that you’re equipped with some fun and interesting information about tree-dwelling animals, how do you engage your students around these topics?
Check out Activity 22—Trees As Habitats in PLT’s PreK-8 Environmental Education Activity Guide. In this activity, students inventory the plants and animals that live in, on, and around trees and discover how plants and animals depend on trees in many ways.