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Giant anteater - MYRMECOPHAGA TRIDACTYLA

Endangered

Class: Animals with Milk Glands (Mammalia)
Subclass: True Mammals (Eutheria)
Order: Strange Joint (Xenarthra)
Family: Myrmecophagidae.

Location: Guatemala to northern Argentina.

Habitat: Terrestrial. Open forest and savanna.

Description: The giant anteater's nose is elongated and cylindrical in shape, but its ears, eyes, and mouth are all small. Both the neck and head are tapered down to the tip of the nose. The coat is bristly and shaggy, quite short on the head, but very long on the back where there are silverwhite stripes. The distinctive front feet are very strong and have five specially adapted toes for digging. The second and third toes are strong, set well apart, and have long claws. The fifth toe is not visible and the fourth toe is much smaller, which probably explains the species name "tridactyla," "three toes." This animal has a very long tongue, almost two feet in length, which is covered with a sticky coating. Its head and body length is between 40 and 52 in, with its tail adding another two to three feet. It weighs from 18 to 50 lbs.

Behavior: Obviously, the anteater's diet consists of ants and termites (preferably those species without pincers). The anteater's body is well adapted to this diet, with strong front limbs able to destroy the solid hills built by termites, and a long, thin sticky tongue, which can easily find its way into the inner recesses of a nest. Its strong front legs are also used to defend itself from predators such as pumas and jaguars, the anteater's natural enemies.

Reproduction: After a gestation period of about 190 days, a single young is born, and it is carried about on its mother's back for a long period of time.