The Lacandon jungle is a type of tropical forest that is only found in the Southeast of Mexico, in the state of Chiapas. Its name comes from an indigenous population descended from the Mayans that inhabited those lands and that the Spanish called "those of Lacantún", since they came from an island called Lacan-Tun and from the shore of Lake Miramar.
In this Green Ecologist article we will learn a little more about the Lacandon jungle, its flora and fauna, including the animals that are in danger of extinction there, its climate and its topography.
We begin by locating where this region of the planet is and talking about its main characteristics, to better understand the types of ecosystems it houses and, therefore, the flora and fauna it contains.
The Lacandon jungle is located in the eastern part of the state of Chiapas and it extends to its extreme north-west, southeast of Mexico, and covers an area of 1.5 million hectares that are delimited by the Tulijá River and the border of Guatemala. It is one of the rainforests most significant in America and whose name comes from a group of indigenous descendants of the Mayans who inhabited the region before the conquest of the Spanish, known as Lacandones.
The Lacandon jungle includes more plant species than all the northern states of Mexico combined. According to estimates, in just one hectare of this place it is possible to find up to 265 species of plants, of which about 160 correspond to trees. This makes this jungle the place with the highest density of plants in the world. Between Lacandon jungle flora we highlight:
It is an evergreen or deciduous tree from intertropical areas that can grow to between 35 and 50 cm. Other of its names are Aguano or Zopilote.
Cedars are a genus of pinnaceous conifers that can reach a large size, reaching between 25 and 50 meters in height.
Also known as tipuana, they are trees of the genus Fabaceae fast-growing, stout and reaching an average height of 18 meters.
It is a genus of American tropical plants in the family Bromeliceae with flowers that have a very deep calyx. In addition, it is a genus of plants that is quite common to have in homes, which is why we tell you in this other article by Green Ecologist the Care of bromeliad plants.
In the Lacandon jungle there are numerous species of orchids. It is one of the plant families with the largest number of species and they are especially abundant in tropical areas. They are characterized by the complexity of their flowers and by being very attractive to pollinators.
In the Lacandon jungle there are a large number of epiphytic plants such as mosses, lichens, ferns and even some bromeliads and orchids, mentioned above.
In the Lacandon jungle, spider monkeys, sarahuatos and opossums live among the branches of the trees. Among the hollows of the trunks and branches we can find birds such as toucans, parakeets, parrots or scarlet macaws and among the plants live beetles, ants, butterflies or amphibians such as frogs.
They are medium-sized perissodactyl mammals with a length between 1.3 and 2.5 meters and between 100 and 300 kg in weight. It is one of the species at risk in this area of the world. Learn more in this other article about Why the tapir is in danger of extinction.
Also known as the black howler monkey, it is a species of primate typical of the tropical jungles of southeastern Mexico.
This is another type of monkey that lives in this area with the previous species. It is a primate of the family Atelidae, that inhabits tropical forests from Mexico to Brazil.
In this area of Mexico they are also called clacuache, tacuache or tacuacín. These are possums, which are marsupial mammals.
It is a carnivorous mammal of the family Felidae. Its appearance is similar to that of a jaguar and in the image in this section you can see one.
If you want to know more about this feline, we recommend reading this other post about Why the ocelot is in danger of extinction.
It is a felid carnivore, being the largest feline in America and the third largest in the world. In this other article we teach the Differences between leopard, cheetah and jaguar.
In addition, to know it much better, we recommend reading this other article about the reasons why the jaguar is in danger of extinction.
They belong to the Tayasuidae family (Tayassuidae), so they are related to wild boars, but these artiodactyl mammals only exist in America. They are also called tatabro, báquira or cafuche.
The largest parrots that currently exist are the macaws or macaws and some of the most common are the red ones, but there are fewer and fewer in the wild. However, in the Lacandon jungle, red macaws can still be seen in the wild, flying in flocks. Here we talk more about the reasons why the macaw is in danger of extinction.
Sadly, almost all of these species are also part of the endangered fauna in the Lacandon jungle.
The Lacandon jungle has been fighting for decades against the devastation and the threat of the human being due to the natural wealth of this place. Thus, factors such as deforestation or illegal trafficking of species have put certain animals in imminent danger of extinction.
Some of the endangered animals in the Lacandon jungle are:
If you want to read more articles similar to Lacandon jungle: flora and fauna, we recommend that you enter our Ecosystems category.