From tree branch to the nest it has been calculated that worker leaf-cutter ants (Atta cephalotes) can run the human equivalent of thirty consecutive four-minute miles carrying a load of 500 pounds in their jaws. In a tropical rainforest these insects can account for the removal of about 15% of the leaf mass produced.

During a mass arrival of olive ridley turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea) known as an "arribada", the beach is full with these prehistoric reptiles by 5pm each afternoon and remains so until sunrise. Before returning to the ocean each female will lay an average of 105 billiard ball-sized eggs in a nest dug in the sand.

Dendrobates auratus, one of several species of poison arrow frogs found in Costa Rica that secrete toxic alkaloids through their skin. These poisons are derived from the chemical defences of the ants and termites they feed on.