The Most Beautiful Roof in the World: "Out of the Shadow and Into the Light"

Vipers coil among buttress roots, waiting in ambush.

A rare and mysterious tree salamander slinks into the petals of an orchid.

A rare and mysterious tree salamander slinks into the petals of an orchid.

The rainforest is a timeless, uncharted world, where mysteries abound and new or rare species appear like undiscovered islands.

Within the tangled vines under the rotting bark of fallen trees, caught in the slime and mold of decaying vegetation and fungi, life teems with ceaseless energy.

Within the tangled vines under the rotting bark of fallen trees, caught in the slime and mold of decaying vegetation and fungi, life teems with ceaseless energy.

Within the tangled vines under the rotting bark of fallen trees, caught in the slime and mold of decaying vegetation and fungi, life teems with ceaseless energy.

When a tree falls, the stump rots, bark loosens, and new creatures move in and take over the altered habitats.

When a tree falls, the stump rots, bark loosens, and new creatures move in and take over the altered habitats.

It is the very diversity of the rainforest that allows life to thrive everywhere, to spring back with a rush of opportunistic species to fill the gaps.

It is the very diversity of the rainforest that allows life to thrive everywhere, to spring back with a rush of opportunistic species to fill the gaps.

It is the very diversity of the rainforest that allows life to thrive everywhere, to spring back with a rush of opportunistic species to fill the gaps.

She explains, “I think that science is really the way things work, and that’s exciting. It is important to understand the bigger picture of our planet and where we live, how it functions, what we do with it, and how that will have impact.”

The bright green florets are actually the emergent growth of the very tallest trees.

Meg swings herself onto the platform with the seeming ease of a spider monkey negotiating canopy vines.

Once across, the arms of the Y diverge into two separate walkways that tie into trees on the opposite bank of the creek.

The space between the branches changes with each new grip, making a shifting geometry against the sky of sliding rectangles, split-second parabolas, and drifting squares.

The capuchins are often found in the lower levels, and the howler monkeys that bellow at dawn like distant foghorns live at the very top.

There might also be galls on a leaf to be noted.

She has a hunch that the hatchings are synchronized to occur when certain leaves flush, or first grow, and are at their most tender for eating.

With the mesh bags Meg is going to begin an exclusion experiment. She will tie each bag onto a branch, protecting its leaves from insect predators.

With the mesh bags Meg is going to begin an exclusion experiment. She will tie each bag onto a branch, protecting its leaves from insect predators.

Or does the fact that a branch’s new leaves are being consumed stimulate the tree to produce more?

Or the pair might be foraging in the surrounding mahogany and kapok trees for fruits and nuts.

When they return to their young, they will regurgitate this food into the mouths of their chicks.

They appear to be almost hanging, with their tendrils of plant roots and vines swaying in the still air.

The little ant farmers tend them night and day, and in return they feed off the glucose and proteins that the plants contain in their succaries, the sugary deposits made by the plants’ metabolic processes.

The little ant farmers tend them night and day, and in return they feed off the glucose and proteins that the plants contain in their succaries, the sugary deposits made by the plants’ metabolic processes.

The bull-horn acacia tree has a very effective defense against epiphytic growth. With its hollow stems it cannot tolerate the stranglehold of many epiphytes.

The bull-horn acacia tree has a very effective defense against epiphytic growth. With its hollow stems it cannot tolerate the stranglehold of many epiphytes.

The leafcutter ants do their farming in reverse, trudging up to the canopy day and night to cut dime-size disks.

They then hoist the pieces overhead and carry them back down to underground chambered caverns.

For lateral protection alongside the column march lines of larger soldier ants.

An owl butterfly alights on a leaf, then flutters off.

Bromeliads have spiky leaves, which form a fibrous hollow tank.

Other creatures lurk in the overlapping leaves of the bromeliad.

Maybe the frog and its tadpoles have been eaten by the little venomous snake she spots coiled among the outer leaves.

A sudden dark design appears from deep within the bromeliad. It is a
tarantula. It bristles at this disturbance, climbs toward the bark of the tree, and comes to rest like black embroidery against the bright green leaves.

Because of their rareness and their inaccessibility in the canopy, these salamanders with their suction-cup feet are one of the canopy’s most mysterious inhabitants.