I wish I could tell you that I have great photos of all of these species, but if you have been following along with the blog you know there is no way that is happening. Becuase I had fun taking these shots I will show you a few of the photos that I took. I hope that Wyman Meinzer (http://www.wymanmeinzer.com/) can stand a little competition in the nature photography field. Here are some shots of animals I saw while hiking tbrough the rainforest.
We saw this poor bat fluttering around on the ground as we were hiking up to the canopy walk. I don't think its going to make it.
There is a wild boar hiding in the forest. Really, there is! Really!
Millipedes
I think that there are two of them wrapped up together. I wonder what they are doing?
Flying Lizard!
I know that it must show that I am a true bi-nerd when I tell you that the coolest thing that I saw in Taman Negara was a lizard. Oh, but this was not just any lizard! As I was walking along the trail I was surprised when I saw a lizard soar past and land on a nearby tree! Flying Lizards! what is up with that?!?
It turns out that unlike birds and bats (except for the one in the photo above) who are capable of true flight, lizards can't fly. However, they can glide from tree to tree (sort of like flying squirrels). These lizards are in the genus Draco (I don't know which species I saw). Their "wings" are formed by a skin that is connected to their rib cage that etends outside of their body.
photo from Lee Grismer's article
After landing on the tree the lizards fold their "wing" back along their body. You can just barely see the folded up wings laying along the side of its body in this photo.
Lee Grismer's artile in this link gives a nice description of flying lizards.
http://www.nature-escapes-kuala-lumpur.com/flying-lizards.html
http://www.tamannegara.org/pg_tmn/pg1_1_intro.php
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