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Anteaters are the four extant mammal species in the suborder Vermilingua [1] (meaning "worm tongue"), commonly known for eating ants and termites. The individual species have other names in English and other languages. Together with sloths, they are within the order Pilosa.
The giant anteater is the most terrestrial of the living anteater species; specialization for life on the ground appears to be a new trait in anteater evolution. The transition to life on the ground could have been aided by the expansion of open habitats such as savanna in South America and the abundance of native colonial insects , such as ...
- Anteater Tongues Are Covered in Spines. Anteaters use their tongues as their primary tool for gathering food. These organs can be up to two feet in length and come covered in small, spiny protrusions and sticky saliva.
- They Have Knifelike Claws. Though they have four feet, only the forefront toes have claws on them. Interestingly, when walking, anteaters curl their feet into fistlike balls to keep the claws protected and prevent dulling.
- Anteaters Don't Just Eat Ants. The average giant anteater eats up to 30,000 ants and termites in a day. They use quick flicking motions to scoop and suck up their food, up to several hundred flicks per minute.
- Anteaters Have No Teeth. In scientific terms, an animal with no teeth at all is known as an edentate. Sloths and armadillos are edentates, as well. Their lack of teeth doesn't seem to pose any problems for anteaters, as their tongues and claws do all the work when it comes to foraging.
Apr 12, 2024 · The banded anteater (see numbat), for example, is a marsupial. The scaly anteater (see pangolin) was formerly grouped with xenarthrans in an order called Edentata, but it has since been assigned to its own separate order. The short-beaked echidna is often called a spiny anteater, but this animal is even more distantly related (see monotreme).
The giant anteater uses its sharp claws to tear an opening into an anthill and put its long snout, sticky saliva, and efficient tongue to work. But it has to eat quickly, flicking its tongue up to ...
Anteaters can consume thousands of insects per day to meet their nutritional needs. Predators. Natural predators of anteaters vary depending on their species and size. The Giant Anteater, with its formidable size and powerful forelimbs, has few predators, with Jaguars and Pumas being the notable exceptions.
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Anteaters are toothless and—as their name suggests—insectivorous, meaning they eat insects. Their diet consists primarily of ants and termites, which they capture by breaking apart insect nests with their clawed toes and then sticking their long tongues inside. These mammals live across North, Central, and South America and inhabit tropical ...
