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The largest of four anteater species, the giant anteater may be five to seven feet long, from nose to tail, and weigh 40 to 86 pounds. It has a narrow head, long nose, small eyes, and round ears. Its coarse hair may be gray or brown, with a white-banded black stripe running along the body to mid-torso, and a long, bushy tail, which can be two to three feet long. Its front feet have large claws, which are curled under when it walks. It has poor vision but a keen sense of smell. |
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Home Range
From southern Belize to northern Argentina |
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Habitat
Grassland savannas, swamps, humid forests, and woodlands |
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Diet
The giant anteater detects termite mounds and anthills with its keen sense of smell and tears them open with its strong claws. Its long nose, which contains a bone tube formed by the fusion of the upper and lower jaws, functions as a vacuum, sucking in the insects. The anteater's sticky tongue—up to two feet long—collects more insects. An anteater may eat as many as 30,000 ants in a day. Reproduction |
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Reproduction
After a gestation of about six months, a giant anteater will give birth to one offspring, which will be weaned in a few months. The young will ride on its mother's back for up to a year and remain with the mother for up to two years, or until she becomes pregnant. |
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Social Structure
Giant anteaters are solitary, except for mothers and their young. |
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Fun Facts
Anteaters are related to armadillos and sloths. They are all in the magnorder Xenarthra, which is Greek for "strange joint." The name comes from a feature unique to xenarthrans: special articulations between the vertebrae in the lower back. Xenarthrans also have fused pelvic bones and lack incisors and canines. Anteaters are in the suborder Vermilingua (animals with a worm-like tongue) |
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