1.Wrinkle-faced bat -Centurio senex (Phyllostomatidae)

This species occurs from northern coastal Mexico to Venezuela, as well as in Trinidad. Centurio may be recognized by the grotesque facial features: the face is short, broad, naked, and covered with wrinkled outgrowths of the skin. When roosting or sleeping the bat covers its face with the chin fold. This fold extends from the ears, which lie flat over the top of the head when the bat is at rest. When the bat leaves its roost, it unmasks itself and departs in a jerky flight resembling that of a large butterfly. The facial mask remains beneath the chin as a series of wrinkled folds of skin. The diet consists mainly of fruit, like the pictured Licania fruit. Centurio will eat only the soft fleshy part of Licania, dropping the hard-coated seed. Then other animals which have not the ability to fly (wrinkled or not) around have a chance to find the abandoned seed. Only animals with powerful jaws (like the Paca) can eat this seed.

2. Paca -Agouti paca (Agoutidae)

This photo shows a young paca jumping out of its burrow. We found the burrow during the day, when we were censusing paca burrows. After we blocked all entrances we dug a little hole to identify the animal. It took the animal less than 30 seconds to dig an opening big enough to jump out of. It is amazing how far they can jump! After Capybara and Pacarana, Pacas are the biggest rodents on planet earth, with a body mass of up to 15 kg! Their geographic range is from Southeastern Mexico to Brazil and North Paraguay. Pacas are nocturnal, during the day they sleep in burrows, mostly alone. Females can be observed with their young at night searching for food such as fallen fruits, seeds (see above) and leaves. Pacas are most common near rivers to small springs. They are excellent swimmers. I had the pleasure to watch a paca dive into a small creek, this may be a way how to escape from predators such as big cats, bush dogs and field biologists. I worked in Costa Rica with pacas, using transects to estimate relative abundance, radio telemetry to estimate the activity patterns, and home range (up to 5 hectare). I found over 40 plant species utilized by pacas, many were new records. Pacas move many fruit to a regular feeding spot, where left over seeds germinate, creating little "paca gardens". This might be one important seed dispersal mechanism for many plant species in the tropics. But, since pacas are the most prized Neotropical game animals for their tender, veal-like meat, and they are easily hunted by day with dogs, pacas are now scarce or locally extinct in many areas throughout their distribution. What ecological impacts the extinction of pacas in many forests will have (e.g. for the distribution of seeds) is still unknown.

3. Two-toed tree sloth -Choloepus hoffmanni (Megalonychidae)

This family includes a single living genus, Choloepus, with two species, C. didactylus (range: e. of Andes in Columbia, Venezuela, Guianas, Ecuador, Peru, and n. Brazil) and C. hoffmanni (range: Nicaragua to Peru and c. Brazil). They usually hang upside down by their claws. The forefeet have two toes with long, curved claws, while the hindfeet have three clawed toes. The number of toes on the forefoot is the most obvious difference between the two & three toed sloths. The two & three toed sloths are not directly related, instead they represent convergent surviving lines from separate ancestral lineages that also gave rise to two different groups of ground sloths. These extinct ground sloths varied in size from about that of a dog to that of an elephant! Our two-toed sloth may only reach up to 9 kg. Interestingly the hairs of sloths differ in form and structure from those of other mammals, being specialized to encourage colonization by algae. Algae may help to camouflage their host, but they also provide nutrients for the sloths, either by direct absorption through the skin or by licking the algae. Little beetles and moths are also found in the hairs of the sloths, these insects may limit algae growth while taking advantage of a nice, safe home. Sloths leave the canopy for the forest floor only to defecate. When I was in the forest at night I found this sloth heading down a tree, my appearance convinced it to move up again. In general, two-toed sloths are more active than the three-toed ones, because of this greater mobility they have access to a wider variety of food and tend to be more generalized consumers than the three-toed sloths. Their diet consists of leaves, tender twigs, and fruit. Choloepus has the lowest and most variable body temperature among all mammals ranging from 24 to 33 degree Celsius.