Of the twelve categories of mammals that inhabit the tropics of the Western Hemisphere, eleven are present in Brazil, representing over 600 species. This includes several species of the cat family such as the jaguar and smaller cats such as the puma, jaguarundi, and the ocelot. Other mammals include: sloths, anteaters, tapirs, armadillos, marine dolphins, capybaras (a large aquatic rodent, some weighting up to 145 pounds [66 kilograms]), and 30 species of monkeys.

            Brazil has a larger variety of birds than any other country, with 1,600 species including many varieties of parrot. There are at least 40 species of turtles, 120 lizards, 230 snakes, five species of alligators,331 species of amphibians, and 1,500 species of freshwater fish. Naturalists have catalogued over 100,000 invertebrates in Brazil of which more than 70,000 are insects.

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