Overview of the Anteater

The anteater belongs to an order of mammals (along with armadillos and sloths) with small brains and few, or no teeth. Anteaters have extra backbone joints that help strengthen their lower back and hips, which are useful for digging. While they have no teeth, anteaters do have a long, sticky tongue, which helps them catch insects, like ants and termites. The sticky tongue of an anteater is covered in tiny backward-pointing spines and saliva, which allows the anteater to consume thousands of insects in a single day.

Anteaters live in Central and South America, in grassland, open woodland and tropical forests. The giant anteater is a subspecies of anteater that can grow up to 4 feet (excluding the tail) in length. The giant anteater (and the other subspecies) feed on ants and termites, and can consume over 30,000 insects, plus their eggs and larvae, in a single day. The giant anteater’s incredible tongue (which can be nearly 2 feet long) can be flicked in and out of the anteater’s mouth up to 150 times a minute.

Anteaters use their excellent sense of smell to detect their food. When a food source is detected, the anteater uses its claws and powerful front legs to break open the ant or termite nest. However, anteaters are careful not to completely destroy the nest, and only feed for a short time, so they can return to feed at a later time.

The jaguar and cougar are known predators of giant anteaters. The large size of giant anteaters makes them prey of only the largest predators, like jaguars and cougars. Anteaters are also killed by hunting and collisions with vehicles.

Habitat destruction is the primary threat to giant anteaters. They are listed as a vulnerable species; it is estimated that there are only 5,000 in the wild, and only 90 in zoos across the United States.

About the Author
Jacob Maddox manages content for Wildlife Animals http://www.wildlife-animals.com an educational wildlife and animal website. Jacob also guest writes for Dog Pound http://www.dog-pound.net