This exceptional photograph by Chuck Clark captures the essence of the Amazon Rainforest, its rivers, plants, animals, and people.  Note the tree with the large palmately-lobed leaves in the foreground.  This is the cercopia tree (Cecropia sp.) and is characteristic of the riparian vegetation along the rivers of the Amazon jungle.  The cecropia tree is a fast growing softwood species that is fed upon by numerous animals, including sloths (Bradypus sp.) and squirrel monkeys (Samirus sp.).  The canoe being rowed by hand in the center of the image is typical of the Amazon being low and shallow in the water, uniquely adapted to the calm waters of the rivers and streams of the lower Amazon Rainforest.