ANTEATER,
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Anteater
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any of three genera of insect-eating mammals of the Central
and South American family Myrmecophagidae, of the order Edentata.
Anteaters have a long head with a long, tubular mouth and long tongue,
but no teeth. Each genus contains a single species. The giant anteater, Myrmecophaga
tridactyla, weighing up to 23 kg (50 lb), is the largest.
It lives in forests and on open plains and is mainly diurnal. The
coarse coat is gray, with a white-bordered black stripe on each
shoulder, and the tail is long and bushy. The front claws, used
to tear open termite hills and for defense, are so long that they
are tucked under, and the animal walks on its knuckles. The long
tongue flicks rapidly in and out of the small mouth opening, scooping
up termites or other insects on its sticky surface.
Cyclopes didactylus, known as the pygmy anteater,
is the smallest of the family (about the size of a squirrel) and
is covered with golden-brown fur. Its jaws curve to form a short
tube, and it eats only termites. Completely arboreal, it has a prehensile
tail. Tamandua tetradactyla, the lesser anteater,
is the size of a large domestic cat and has short, coarse, tan to
blackish hair, usually with a black band around body and neck. It also
lives in trees but frequently comes down to the ground. Both the
pygmy and the lesser anteater are nocturnal and walk on the sides
of their front feet because of their claws.
All three species are characterized by solitary habits and
a low reproductive rate. The female carries the single young on
her back during its growth; in the case of the giant anteater, this
can last almost one year. Other, unrelated mammals called anteaters
are the AARDVARK, ECHIDNA, PANGOLIN and numbat, or banded anteater,
a marsupial.