ANTEATER: CHARACTERISTICS, EVOLUTION, TAXONOMY, HABITAT - BIOLOGY

The anteater is a placental mammal belonging to the order Pilosa and the suborder Vermilingua. Its body is adapted and highly specialized to feed on ants and termites that it captures directly from the nest. Occasionally it may consume fruits typical of its habitat.

To capture its prey, it uses its long and sticky tongue, which can be up to 70 centimeters long when stretched. Another characteristic that identifies this animal is its long tail, with dense fur and an elongated, tubular snout.

Source: pixabay

They are edentulous animals, which implies that they do not have teeth. Research shows that they could use their jaws to crush insects. They also use strong stomach and palate muscles to grind the food they eat.

Its natural habitat is Central and South America. Three genders of the Vermilingua suborder are distinguished:

The giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla), which can measure, including its tail, about 1.80 meters.
The pygmy or silky anteater (Cyclopes didactylus), barely 35 centimeters long.
The collared anteater or southern tamandua (Tamandua tetradactyla) that is approximately 1.2 meters long.

Danger of extinction

Through the years anteaters have been hunted by hunters. The reason is varied; one is that meat is part of the diet of some inhabitants of various regions of South America.

Its skin is used to make saddlery articles and the hairs are frequently used as the bristles of brushes.

In addition to their poaching, the advance of urban planning and the modifications that the habitat has undergone have contributed to the fact that the anteater population has decreased significantly.

If to this is added the low birth rate of this species, it results in that they are in danger of extinction. For these reasons, the different entities in charge of animal protection are still fighting to preserve the anteater.

General characteristics

Tail

The tail is long, usually having almost the same size as the body. It is hairy, except in the tamandu that has it with a dense coat at the base and no hair on the tip. In almost all species it is prehensile, except in the giant anteater.

The tail is a very important part of its body since it is used in various situations. When sleeping, the tail hugs the body, protecting it from inclement weather and from the bite of any insect.

The species that have it prehensile, use it when they need to hold on to the branches, while they are catching their prey. When the anteater takes a bipedal body position, they use their tail for support and balance.

Fur

The hairs that cover the body of the animal are long, straight and rough. The main difference between anteater species is the variation in coat color. Some specimens have shades of brown, while others are gray.

These color patterns make it easy for them to camouflage themselves in the environment where they are, going unnoticed by their predators.

Teeth

Anteaters don't have teeth. These animals can articulate their jaw, thus crushing the insects they consume.

Sexual dimorphism

Among the species in this group there is variation between males and females. Adult males tend to be born larger, with much wider heads and necks than females.

Size

The size of the members of this group of mammals varies by species. The silky anteater is approximately 18 centimeters tall, weighing 550 grams.

The giant anteater, the largest of its species, can measure more than 2 meters and its weight could be around 60 kilograms.

Face

They have a skull with a rounded shape, where the brain of small dimensions is housed. Their eyes are small in size and their ears are round.

Senses

Anteaters are characterized by poorly specialized hearing and sight senses, however they have a developed sense of smell. In the giant anteater, smell could be up to 40 times more sensitive than that of humans.

Body temperature

Its body temperature varies between 33 and 36 degrees Celsius, making it one of the mammals with one of the lowest body temperature.

Due to this, anteaters assume behaviors such as resting in the hottest hours of the day and heating their body through foraging, when the temperature of the environment drops.

Care of the young

The young are born covered with hair. Immediately after birth, the female licks her body, after which the baby climbs on her back, holding on to her fur. There it is located towards the black strip of the hair, in order to camouflage itself and go unnoticed by predators.

The calf is suckled, milk is taken from the two breasts located near the armpits. The young anteater can walk slowly as early as four weeks after being born. After several months, the calf can begin to accompany its mother on short trips.

However, during his first year of life he will ride mostly on the mother's back. The reason for this is that she feels secure about her, as well as that she can rest from the long walks that the mother takes in search of food.

If a calf falls off the mother's back, the mother will growl at her, to let her know that she has fallen or to guide her to where she is.

The young anteater remains under the maternal protection for approximately two years, or until the mother is again in the gestation period of a new calf.

Evolution

The anteater belongs to the order Edentata. Members of this order separated from insectivorous animals in the prehistoric Cretaceous period, around 135 million years ago. They diversified at the end of the age of the dinosaurs, approximately 65 million years ago.

Although the fossil records of the Myrmecophagidae family are very poor, some of these specimens have been found in South America, dating back 25 million years, which corresponds to the early Miocene.

Anteaters appear not to have occupied a geographic distribution beyond Central America. This could be attributed to the fact that the habitat of the species of this order does not include cold climates or vegetation that varies according to the seasons of the year.

However, a fossil corresponding to a giant anteater, which lived 600,000 years ago, during the early Pleistocene, was identified in the northeastern region of Sonora-Mexico. This outlines the existence of this animal more than 3,000 kilometers north of the current habitat range of these specimens.

Taxonomy

Animal Kingdom.

Subkingdom Bilateria.

Infra-kingdom Deuterostomy.

Chordate Phylum.

Sunfilum Vertebrate.

Infrafilum Gnathostomata.

Tetrapoda superclass.

Mammal class.

Subclass Theria.

Infraclass Eutheria.

Order Pilosa

Suborder Vermilingua

Genus Cyclopes

The coat is silky and reddish brown with some golden reflections. Adults weigh between 450 and 550 grams. Its body measures around 18 centimeters and the tail between 15 and 18 centimeters. They live in tropical America, from Mexico to Bolivia.

It is a solitary animal that moves through the branches, supporting itself with its prehensile tail, its hind legs and its claws of the front legs. The two-toed pygmy bear is one of the representatives of this genus.

Myrmecophagidae family

Genus Myrmecophaga

The giant anteater is a member of this genus. Its body reaches 120 centimeters and the tail from 60 to 90 centimeters. It weighs between 25 and 39 kilograms. Its snout is elongated, lacking teeth.

The tongue is about 60 centimeters long and is covered in a sticky substance, where ants and termites adhere. Its tail has thick fur, which it uses to cover its body during cold nights. Lives in Central America and in the north central area of South America.

Genus Tamandúa

These live in South America. Its coat is golden yellow, having a kind of black “vest” on its back, ventral area and shoulders.

It has a prehensile tail, with hairs at its base and without them at the tip. On the front legs it has 4 powerful claws and 5 small ones on the back ones.

Source: pixabay.com redesigned by Johanna Caraballo

Habitat

Anteaters were confined to South America, as for most of the Cenozoic era it was an insular continent. Once the Isthmus of Panama was formed, three million years ago, they reached Central America.

They are currently found in South and Central America, inhabiting countries from Argentina to Honduras. They are usually located in tropical forests, although they could adapt to any environment that offers the natural resources it needs to develop.

For this reason they are located in tropical forests, grasslands and savannas. Habitats can vary by species. The silky anteater (Cyclopes didactylus) is native to the high humid forests. It is an arboreal species with nocturnal habits.

The tamandua prefer the dense primary forests, close to lakes and streams in South and Central America.

The giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) lives in savannas, deciduous forests, grasslands, swamps, and rainforests in South America, where ants and termites abound. Despite being territorial, they don't stay in one place for long.

After spending the day searching for food, they will seek a night shelter in trees, dry logs, or digging a small hole in the ground.

Reproduction

-Male reproductive organs

Testicles

These organs are responsible for producing male reproductive cells, sperm. In anteaters it develops within the abdominal cavity and is surrounded by a capsule of connective tissue called the tunica albuginea.

Epididymis

This is a tube where sperm are stored until they are mature and are ejaculated.

Different conductor

It is a tube that connects the epididymis with the urethra. While the spermatozoa travel through this organ, they receive secretions from the accessory genital glands, thus forming semen.

Accessory glands

These accessory glands are found in the pelvic area of the urethra. Among them are the gallbladder gland and the prostate.

Penis

The penis is small in size, and can be considered as an orifice of the urethra with an external outlet to a urogenital area. It is located in the abdominal cavity, between the rectum and the urinary bladder.

-Female reproductive organs

Ovaries

The ovaries of the female are in a dorsal position, in the internal part of the cavity of the abdomen.

Oviduct

This tubular structure is responsible for transporting the ovules from the ovary to the uterus where, if fertilized, it will be implanted.

Uterus

The female's uterus is small and does not have uterine horns. The cervix has a thickening of the mucosa that is there. It also has a thick muscular wall that isolates the uterus from the outside, opening only at times of heat and delivery.

Vagina

This is the female copulatory organ that runs from the cervix to the mouth of the urethra.

Vulva

It is formed by two lips that cover the clitoris, the homologous structure of the penis.

-Mating and gestation

Anteaters become sexually mature when they are between 2 and 4 years old. Most of the members of this species are solitary, joining in pairs once a year, during the mating season. At that time they are together for a few days, although the male could stay a while longer in the place.

Fertilization occurs by contact transfer. A single young is usually born from mating. The intervals between each gestation could be nine months.

Some researchers claim that the reproductive process among anteaters takes place from March to May. On the contrary, others think that the reproduction takes place in any month of the year.

Gestation lasts about 180 days. In parturition, the females are standing and at birth the young immediately climbs on their back.

Feeding

Anteaters eat ants, termites and some beetle or bee larvae, even tasting the honey from their combs. Occasionally, especially if they are in captivity, they may eat some fruits.

They can eat more than 35,000 insects a day, using their sense of smell to find them. Because of this, the anteater spends most of the day eating, or looking for the nests that will be its next meal.

Each species in the Vermilingua suborder has its food preferences. Small-sized specimens eat tree-dwelling insects, while large ones can break through the tough covers of terrestrial insect nests.

Anteaters use the sharp claws on their front legs to pry open colonies of ants and termites. Then they insert their long tongue to collect eggs, larvae, or adult insects.

During the digestion process, the salivary glands secrete sticky saliva that coats the tongue. Thanks to this characteristic, the prey remain attached, being subsequently consumed.

They stay in an insect colony for a short time. Thanks to the speed with which it can move its tongue, they consume thousands of termites in just minutes.

Digestive system

Stomach

The stomach is monocavitary, where the development of the fundus, body and pylorus is evident. In the latter there is a well developed pyloric sphincter. The mucosa that lines the stomach is glandular in nature.

Small intestine

It is located between the pylorus and the ileal opening. It is made up of the duodenum, the proximal portion, the jejunum, which is the longest, and the ileum, which is related to the colon.

Large intestine

This goes from the ileal orifice to the anus. The anteater does not have a blind man. It is divided into two sections: the colon and the rectum, which ends in the anal canal.

Liver

In anteaters, the lobes that make up the liver are separated by interlobar fissures, allowing them to slide past each other during torso flexion and extension movements.

Behavior

Anteaters normally have solitary behaviors. The exception to this is when the males look for the females to mate, for which they are together for a few days. Also a mother and her calf share the same spaces for at least one year.

They are not gregarious animals, it is typical for them that they do not have nests to which they return after traveling the territory in search of food, nor do they establish fixed places to rest.

When night falls, the giant anteater searches for a secluded place to rest, curling up on the ground. It uses its furry tail to cover the head and body. These animals wake up at the slightest noise, something advantageous because it allows them to be attentive to protect themselves from any danger.

They are slow-walking animals, since they do so by leaning on the knuckles of the front limbs. The reason for this is that they need to protect their huge claws, which fold under the foot pads as they move across the terrain.

Despite being slow to move, anteaters can do so in a galloping manner, thus gaining the speed they need to escape a dangerous situation.

Defending

When they feel threatened or scared, they try to walk away. If they don't, they fight. In this case, the anteaters stand up in a bipedal position, using their tail to help balance, while fighting with their forelimbs.

If the animal manages to embrace the enemy, it can fatally stab its claws, causing death. These claws are extremely powerful, they could tear the predator's skin, no matter how big and strong it is.

Anteaters can make very high-pitched sounds, such as a loud squeal, that could scare off the attacker.

These animals have a developed sense of smell, which allows them to identify their prey, but they can also detect the presence of an aggressor. They also usually mark their territory with secretions from the anal glands, thus keeping any invader away.

Anatomy and physiology

Language

This organ is highly specialized to become one of the main organs in the anteater's feeding process.

The tongue can measure between 40 and 50 centimeters and stretch another 20 centimeters. This makes it protrude from its snout, thus being able to be introduced into narrow places to reach its prey.

This organ, thanks to its strong muscles, can move up to 160 times in a minute. This is a very important aspect for its feeding, because the anteater needs to eat quickly, to prevent the ants from biting its tongue, lips or snout.

The tongue has taste buds, the most developed being the circumvate. In addition, they have small spines that allow you to easily hook the bite.

This powerful muscle is divided into three parts: the root, the body and the vertex, which is highly developed. The root has two lingual pillars.

In the neck are the salivary glands, which are large, and secrete a dense and sticky saliva, which covers the tongue and allows insects to adhere to it.

Legs

Its front legs have long claws curved back. The third claw is more developed than the others. They are very sharp, allowing these animals to dig into insect caves in search of food. Also with them they can defend themselves from predators.

The front claws fold inward, against the palm of the leg, while not being used by the animal. This makes your walking slow. The hind limbs also have claws, although these are smaller and smaller.

Snout

Its snout is elongated, ending in a tube-shaped mouth, where lips and a nose are visualized. Although it constitutes the great part of the head of the animal, it is small compared to the rest of the body.

Larynx

This is a tube-shaped, cartilaginous organ that connects the nasopharynx with the trachea. The arytenoid cartilage lacks laryngeal ventricles and cuneiform process.

Windpipe

The trachea is made up of a group of cartilages joined together thanks to the annular ligaments. These cartilages are open in the dorsal part and in the anteater they present a circular section.

Bronchial tree

This structure is formed by the divisions suffered by the bronchi, which in turn branch into lobar bronchi. The bronchial tree, together with veins, arteries, capillaries, and nerve endings, penetrate the lung.

Lungs

The lungs are two lobed organs. The left lung is made up of the cranial and caudal lobes. The right lung has the cranial, middle, caudal, and accessory lobes.

References

Wikipedia (2018). Anteater. Recovered from en.wikipedia.org.
Alfred L. Gardner (2018). Anteater. Encyclopedia britannica. Recovered from britannica.com.
Animals network (2018). Anteater. Recovered from animals.net.
National Geographic (2018). Giant anteater. Recovered from nationalgeographic.com.
New world encyclopedia (2018). Anteater. Recovered from newworldencyclopedia.org.
ITIS (2018). Pilosa. Recovered from itis.gov
Woltanski, A. (2004). Myrmecophaga tridactyla. Animal Diversity Web. Recovered from animaldiversity.org.
Animals facts encyclopedia (2018). Anteater Facts. Recovered from animalfactsencyclopedia.com.
Pedro Mayor Aparicio, Carlos López Plana (2018). Giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyl). Atlas of the anatomy of wild species of the Peruvian Amazon. Department of Animal Health and Anatomy of the Autonomous University of Barcelona. Recovered from atlasanatomiaamazonia.uab.cat.

ANTEATER: CHARACTERISTICS, EVOLUTION, TAXONOMY, HABITAT - BIOLOGY - 2025