Anteaters
Anteaters live in a range of ecosystems including dry tropical forests, rainforests, grasslands, and savannas.
There are three types of anteaters: giant anteaters, tamanduas, and silky anteaters.
Silky anteaters are arboreal living in trees, while tamanduas are as comfortable on the ground as they are in tree canopy.
The giant anteater is fully terrestrial. They walk around on their knuckles due to the size of their three extra-long claws. Their tongue is longer than their lengthy skull and can flick in and out at about 3 times per second! The combination of the tiny hooks on the tongue and their extra sticky saliva makes them a terrifying giant predator to tiny insects.
Anteaters are excellent mothers! They carry their offspring on their back. In giant anteaters, the stripes on the female continue on their offspring, and the same happens in vested tamanduas. This is an amazing camouflage; if you see an anteater from a distance, you won’t even notice it has an offspring on its back!
To learn more about these hairy, worm-tongued ant-eating animals, watch our video The amazing world of anteaters and how you can help them!
Try your skills at camouflaging anteaters with our digital anteater coloring sheets.
Fun Anteater Facts for Kids:
• The oldest fossil record for an anteater was collected from the Colhuehuapian age in South America, about 20 million years ago.
• Anteaters are part of the Order Pilosa, which means “hairy”, and the suborder Vermilingua, which means worm tongued.
• Anteaters are solitary animals, but different species can live in the same ecosystem because they hunt different species of ants and termites.
• Anteaters only spend a few minutes at each termite mound and then move on so they don’t get attacked. And this method ensures there will be more termites the next visit.
• They have tiny hooks on the tongue and their extra sticky saliva to catch the insects they eat.
• Newborns are called pups
The Anteater, Sloth, Armadillo Specialist Group has a store that directly helps xenarthran conservation!
