{"id":43886,"date":"2024-11-17T18:16:00","date_gmt":"2024-11-17T17:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/aaa4cf05-2a21-4511-b9ca-3f5612bfbde0"},"modified":"2024-11-17T19:27:29","modified_gmt":"2024-11-17T18:27:29","slug":"how-do-animals-near-the-equator-survive-the-tropics-the-ingenious-survival-tactics-rainforest-creatures-use-including-homemade-sunscreen","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/rss_feed\/how-do-animals-near-the-equator-survive-the-tropics-the-ingenious-survival-tactics-rainforest-creatures-use-including-homemade-sunscreen\/","title":{"rendered":"How do animals near the equator survive the tropics? The ingenious survival tactics rainforest creatures use, including homemade sunscreen."},"content":{"rendered":"

Whether it’s hot and humid or cold and dry, there are many challenging environments along the Equator. So how have animals adapted to it? <\/p>

By <\/p>

Published: Sunday, 17 November 2024 at 17:16 PM<\/p>

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Living successfully in the tropics is no mean feat. Stuart Blackman looks at the living conditions at the equator – and the coping methods animals adopt to survive <\/strong><\/p>

What is the equator and how long is it?<\/h2>

Passing through Africa, Indonesia and South America, as well as the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans, the Equator represents the circumference of the Earth midway between the North and South Poles and marks the boundary between the northern and southern hemispheres.<\/p>

It’s an imaginary line about 45,000km long. The Earth turns on an axis running through the poles, so the Equator is something like the rim of a spinning top. It also marks the mid-line of the tropics, a region bounded by two more imaginary lines, the Tropic of Cancer to the north and the Tropic of Capricorn to the south.<\/p>

What’s the weather like at the equator?<\/h2>

It is only within these lines that the sun ever passes directly overhead. When sunbeams hit the Earth perpendicularly, the heating effect is more intense than when they hit at a shallower angle, and are therefore more diffuse. This explains why the tropics are so hot. The high temperatures, in turn, make it wet, because warmer air holds more water, which falls as more rain<\/a>.<\/p>

Getty Images <\/figcaption> <\/figure> <\/div>

More amazing rainforest wildlife<\/strong><\/p>