The Iwokrama Rainforest of Central Guyana covers almost 10,000 square kilometers of pristine tropical forest. It has been set aside as a natural preserve and research center. The wide variety of plant and animal life has made the Iwokrama Rainforest a prime example of the importance in preserving the forests of the world.
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Opisthocomus hoazin - Various internal and external features have separated the hoatzin from most other birds. The hoatzin is a true ruminant; the leafy foliage, a hoatzin primary food source, is digested in the same way as the large herbivores digest their food, a process called foregut-ferment rumination. Hoatzin young have functional claws at the ends of their wings similar to the claws of archaeopteryx, an extinct dinosaur. The claws are lost when the bird matures; they are used to keep the chick from falling out of the nest or tree.
