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- It’s pronounced ‘tuh-man-doo-ah.’ Tamanduas, also called lesser anteaters, are smaller than their giant anteater relatives. They live in a variety of habitats – including tropical forests, scrub grasslands and wetlands – and are often found near streams and rivers.
- Tamanduas have incredibly long, sticky tongues. A tamandua’s sticky tongue is the perfect bug catcher. At nearly 16 inches long, it can easily scour the narrow tunnels of termite mounds and ant colonies.
- They can eat about 9,000 insects a day! Tamanduas tear into logs with their strong claws and use their tongues to slurp up insects. Though they are anteaters, they also chow down on termites, mealworms, bees (and their honey), and even the occasional fruit.
- Tamanduas use their tails to balance on branches. Tamanduas are arboreal, meaning they spend most of their time in trees. Their prehensile tails can grasp onto branches, helping them maintain balance as they climb high above the ground.
- Anteaters Are of the Same Order, Xenarthra, as Armadillos. "This order also includes sloths and armadillos," says Melissa Ciccariello, zookeeper in charge of anteaters for Roger Williams Park Zoo in Providence, Rhode Island, via an email interview.
- They Don't Have the Longest Tongue of Any Animal. While the giant anteater's tongue is about 20 to 24 inches (51 to 61 centimeters) long, the blue whale has the largest tongue of any animal alive today, according to Schwartz.
- Anteaters Slip Their "Spaghetti-like" Tongue Into Ant Hills and Termite Mounds to Eat. "They use their claws to break open ant and termite mounds," says Ciccariello.
- An Anteater Will Eat up to 30,000 Ants or Termites a Day. "While anteaters will eat primarily ants and termites, it's not uncommon for them to enjoy fallen fruit," says Schwartz.
This monumental snout is also built to accommodate a 60cm-long tongue that traps its victims in a coating of treacle-like saliva. Attached directly to the sternum at its base, the tongue is unique among mammals in lacking structural connections in the throat.
- Physical characteristics
- Appearance
- Behavior
- Description
- Distribution and habitat
- Diet
- Reproduction
Giant anteaters have a long, distinctive snout with a 2-foot-long tongue and no teeth. They may have diminished senses of hearing and sight, but they have a highly developed sense of smell.
These anteaters are distinctively patterned in various shades of brown with wide, black stripes that run from their upper front legs toward their spine. Their front legs are white, and they have a bushy tail. They have no undercoats to provide warmth; instead they have bristly, short hair on their shoulders and longer hair on their legs and tail, w...
Giant anteaters protect their sharp front claws by tucking them into their palms and walking on their front knuckles. Their back feet and claws are more similar to bears (they only knuckle walk with their front feet). They walk in a slow, shuffling gait but when necessary can gallop at over 30 miles per hour (48 kilometers per hour). They can also ...
The largest of the four anteater species, giant anteaters reach 6-8 feet (1.8-2.4 meters) in length, including both nose and tail. They weigh between 60 and 100 pounds (27 and 45 kilograms). However, it is nearly impossible to differentiate the adult male from the female using external anatomy alone.
Giant anteaters are found throughout Central and South America except for Guatemala, Uruguay and El Salvador, where they are considered to be extinct. They live in wetlands, grasslands and tropical forests.
Research has found that giant anteaters can identify the particular species of ant or termite by smell before they rip apart the prey's nest. When feeding, sticky saliva coats the tongue. The 2-foot-long tongue is attached to the sternum and can flick in and out up to 150 times per minute. Anteaters feed almost exclusively on ants and termites, who...
Giant anteaters reach sexual maturity at 3-4 years of age. Gestation lasts about 180 days (six months). They give birth to a single young and suckle the offspring from a pair of mammary glands located on the chest.
Jul 7, 2017 · The Anteater's Tongue Is an Evolutionary Masterpiece. By. Ryan F. Mandelbaum. Published July 7, 2017. Comments ( 56) Anteaters are very good animals. They somehow pull off the whole “slurp up ...
Explore the fascinating world of anteaters and their remarkable tongues that stretch up to two feet! Discover how these long, sticky tongues are perfectly de...
Apr 12, 2024 · The mouth opening of the muzzle is small, but the salivary glands are large and secrete sticky saliva onto a wormlike tongue, which can be as long as 60 cm (24 inches) in the giant anteater. Anteaters live alone or in pairs (usually mother and offspring) and feed mainly on ants and termites .
