weird and wonderful amazonian wildlife

The harpy eagle is the largest and most powerful raptor found in the Americas, and takes its name from the harpies of ancient Greek mythology female monsters in the form of birds with human faces.

The bullet ant has the most painful sting of all ants. The Satere-Mawe people of Brazil sting themselves with bullet ants as part of their initiation rites to become a warrior.

The pacu is a?bigger cousin of the betterknown piranha, though its not as aggressive.?And unlike its razor sharptoothed relative, it has unusual human-like teeth.

Beautiful yet dangerous, this brightly coloured viper has supercilliary scales over its eyes, creating the illusion of eyelashes.

The kinkajou (also known as the honey bear) has a five-inch (13cm) extrudable tongue that helps it to obtain fruit and to lick nectar from flowers.

Arguably the biggest spider in the world in terms of mass, at least the Goliath bird eating spider does not actually prey on birds, but feeds primarily on insects. They have been known to bite humans when threatened, but their venom is relatively harmless.

Poison dart frogs are so called because of the Amerindians' use of their toxic secretions to poison the tips of blowdarts. However, there are over 175 species of this frog, and only four have been documented as having been used for this purpose.

Not to be messed with, the electric eel typically grows to around two metres?(6 ft 7in) in length, and can generate electric shocks of up to 600 volts.

The potoo, as demonstrated in the picture above, is a master of disguise. They are nocturnal insectivores, but during the day they rest on tree stumps, camouflaged with their surroundings.

Caecilians are a type of amphibian, although they bear a superficial resemblance to earthworms or snakes. Because they spend most of their lives burrowed underground, they are one of the least studied amphibians on Earth.