Overview of the Anteater
The Anteaterbelongs 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 Anteateris covered in tiny backward-pointing spines
and saliva, which allows the Anteaterto consume thousands
of insects in a single day.
Anteaters live in Central and South America, in grassland,
open woodland and tropical forests. The giant Anteateris a subspecies of Anteaterthat 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 Anteaters incredible
tongue (which can be nearly 2 feet long) can be flicked
in and out of the Anteaters 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 Anteateruses 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
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