Anteaters
What are anteaters?
Anteaters are toothless and—as their name suggests—insectivorous, meaning they eat insects. Their diet consists primarily of ants and termites, which they capture by breaking apart insect nests with their clawed toes and then sticking their long tongues inside. These mammals live across North, Central, and South America and inhabit tropical savannahs and forests. They have long tails and muzzles and tend to shy away from human contact.
Anteaters belong to the Xenarthrans, a group of mammals that also includes armadillos and tree sloths. They are the largest Xenarthrans.
There are four species of anteaters, each with their own distinctive characteristics, appearances, and habitats. These include the giant anteater, the southern tamandua, the northern tamandua, and the silky anteater.
Giant anteaters
The giant anteater, sometimes called the ant bear, is the largest member of the anteater family. It can grow to 1.8 metres (six feet) long, including its long, bushy tail and distinctive tubular snout. Its coarse fur is characterised by a black and white stripe pattern on each shoulder that serves as excellent camouflage in its natural habitat. It has a long and sticky tongue, measuring up to 60 centimetres (24 inches), which allows it to dig for food.
Giant anteaters inhabit the grasslands, savannahs, and forests of Central and South America. They’re most common in the tropical grasslands of Venezuela and are also found in the Amazon basin in Paraguay and Argentina. They’re mostly diurnal (meaning they’re active during the day), but when they live in areas near humans, they are most active at night, when they feel safer. Giant anteaters are generally solitary creatures, but mothers raise their pups until they are two years old.
Tamanduas
Both northern and southern tamanduas share physical and behavioural characteristics, though their habitat and location differ. Tamanduas are smaller than giant anteaters, growing to about 1.2 metres (four feet) long. They have slender bodies, prehensile tails, and a distinct ‘V’ or ‘U’ shaped pattern on their fur that stretches from their back to their neck. Their fur is shorter than that of giant anteaters, and their muzzles aren’t as pronounced.
The northern tamandua lives in Mexico, Central America, northwestern South America. Southern tamanduas are found from the island of Trinidad to northern Argentina. They make their dens in hollow trees or logs and tend to live in a variety of environments, including forests, grasslands, and even urban areas.
Silky anteater
Silky anteaters are relatively small compared to the rest of the anteater family, and are also known as two-toed, pygmy, or dwarf anteaters. These nocturnal animals live high up in the trees, and, as such, are hard to spot, particularly considering that their soft yellow fur matches and blends in with the colour and texture of the trees in which they live.
Silky anteaters are about 44 centimetres (17 inches) long, and their furry tail constitutes half of this length. They have two clawed toes and large eyes that help them forage at night. They primarily inhabit tropical rainforests in Central and South America, where they can hide among dense trees and vines.
Why are anteaters important?
All anteater species play a crucial role in maintaining the balance of their ecosystems by controlling insect populations, particularly ants and termites. Their specialised diet helps control pest populations, preventing overgrazing and potential damage to vegetation. By influencing insect distribution and abundance, anteaters indirectly contribute to the health and stability of their habitats.
Additionally, anteaters’ unique feeding behaviours help aerate the soil. As they dig to find insects, they promote nutrient cycling and enhance overall soil health. Their presence highlights the interconnectedness of species within an ecosystem and emphasises the importance of biodiversity in maintaining ecological balance.
What is an anteater’s scientific name?
Each species of anteater has a specific scientific name:
- Giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla)
- Northern tamandua (Tamandua Mexicana)
- Southern tamandua (Tamandua tetradactyla)
- Silky anteater (Cyclopes didactylus)
The giant anteater and tamanduas constitute the family Myrmecophagidae, which means ‘ant-eating’ in Latin. Meanwhile, the silky anteater is classified in a family of its own, Cyclopedidae. Together the two families make up the anteater suborder, Vermilingua, which translates to ‘worm-tongue’ in Latin.
Are anteaters endangered?
Thankfully, anteaters are not yet classified as endangered by the IUCN. While giant anteaters are classified as vulnerable, the northern, southern, and silky anteaters are classed as least concern.
However, all species of anteaters face a number of threats that could cause their endangered status to change. They are threatened by habitat loss, excessive hunting, and their naturally low reproductive rates.
Where do anteaters live?
Anteaters are found across Central America, usually in tropical savannahs and forests, spanning from southern Mexico to Paraguay and northern Argentina. It’s worth noting, though, that each species of anteater is found in a different habitat and area:
- The giant anteater inhabits forests, savannahs, and open grasslands. They’ve even been known to take up residence in timber plantations. Giant anteaters require large areas for their survival, which should contain forested patches. They live across Central and South America, stretching from Honduras to Bolivia and northern Argentina.
- Northern tamanduas are forest-dwellers, living in many types of forests, both tropical and subtropical, deciduous and evergreen. Occasionally, they’ll be found in mangrove and grassland areas, so long as there are trees. They live across southern Mexico, through Central America, and in the northernmost parts of South America.
- Southern tamanduas are adaptable to a variety of habitats, including tropical rainforest, savannah, and thorn scrub. They typically live near rivers, especially those thick with vines. This species lives in South America and has no overlap with its northern brothers. Southern tamandua are also found on the island of Trinidad in the Caribbean.
- The silky anteater lives in semi-deciduous and evergreen tropical moist lowland forests, as well as mangrove areas. It can be found from southern Mexico southward to Bolivia and Brazil.
Threats
Unfortunately, all four subspecies of anteater face threats to their continuing survival, from habitat loss and hunting to reproductive rates.
Habitat loss
The main threat faced by anteaters—in particular the giant anteater—is habitat loss due to fires, most notably in Central America. In these areas, sugarcane farmers light fires at the beginning of each harvest, burning their fields to remove the plant’s outer leaves to make the cane stalks easier to cut. Not only does this destroy the habitat of anteaters who live on and near the burnt area, but it can also cause lasting damage and burns to the animals themselves.
In Brazil, native anteater habitats have also been rapidly urbanised, with a network of roads constructed on their land. As a result, giant anteaters’ habitats are shrinking, and they are increasingly at risk of being killed by traffic.
Hunting and the illegal pet trade
Anteaters are poached across Central and South America, as they are prized on the illegal pet market. They are also hunted for their meat and targeted as pests that need to be exterminated.
Reproduction rates
Anteaters have very low reproduction rates, only giving birth to one offspring per year. This was enough to sustain the species until human activity began threatening their survival. Now, their slow reproduction will limit how quickly their numbers can recover.
FAQs
Is an anteater an aardvark?
No, anteaters and aardvarks are different species. Both are insectivorous mammals and share some physical characteristics, but aardvarks are typically bigger and heavier than anteaters. Aardvarks are native to Africa, while anteaters are only found in North, Central, and South America.
What do anteaters eat?
The answer is in their name. Anteaters are insectivorous and feed mostly on termites and ants. The silky anteater only eats ants.
Anteaters capture their prey by using their sharp claws to tear apart insect nests, which they then scoop out with their long tongues. Their salivary glands secrete sticky saliva onto their tongues, which helps them grip insects.
How big are anteaters?
Each subspecies is different when it comes to size. The giant anteater is the largest, measuring 1.8 metres (six feet) long, including its long bushy tail. They weigh up to 40 kilograms (88 pounds).
The northern and southern tamanduas are similar in size, around 1.2 metres (four feet) long, including their long, hairless tails. Adults weigh 1.5 to 8.4 kilograms (3.3 to 18.5 pounds), and there is no significant difference in size between males and females.
The silky anteater is very small and rarely weighs more than 300 grams (11 ounces). The largest a silky anteater will grow to is 44 centimetres (17 inches), and about half of that length is its furry tail.
How long do anteaters live?
Of all the anteater species, the giant anteater lives the longest. One in captivity reportedly survived for 25 years. In the wild, they’ll live on average for around 15 years.
What does an anteater look like?
A giant anteater is grey with a diagonal white and black stripe on each shoulder. They have long, bushy tails and three prominent clawed toes, with two small toes on either side.
A tamandua is usually tan with a dark brown or black ‘vest’ around its shoulders. However, some are entirely tan or entirely black. Their fur is shorter than that of a giant anteater, and they also have shorter muzzles. The forefoot of a tamandua has four clawed toes.
The silky anteater is the smallest subspecies of anteater, which is why it’s also known as the pygmy or dwarf anteater. They’re hard to spot as they’re nocturnal and live in trees. They are yellowish with a silky coat that camouflages very well with the silk-cotton trees in which they live. These anteaters have two clawed toes on each forefoot, which is why they’re sometimes called the two-toed anteater.
Do anteaters have teeth?
Anteaters are edentates, meaning they have no teeth. Because their diet consists only of small insects, their long tongues are very good at scooping up ants and termites for their food. On average, they’ll eat about 35,000 insects per day.
Do anteaters lay eggs?
No, anteaters do not lay eggs. They are mammals, so they give birth to live young. They have very low reproduction rates—a female anteater will give birth to a single offspring once per year.
In the wild, sexual maturity in females comes around two years of age. The gestation period for anteaters is 171 to 184 days. Following its birth, the mother will carry her baby on her back for around six months.
Are anteaters marsupials?
No, true anteaters—giant anteaters, silky anteaters, and tamanduas—are mammals. However, there are a number of animals not closely related to the Myrmecophagidae that are called anteaters colloquially. For example, the banded anteater, also known as the numbat, is a marsupial—but not a true anteater.
Our work
One of the biggest threats faced by anteaters in the wild is forest fires, which burn through their habitats and leave them injured, dead, or effectively homeless. In 2020, wildfires burned through 4.5 million hectares of Brazil’s Pantanal region, the world’s largest tropical wetlands. Millions of animals were killed, including the iconic giant anteaters who made their homes in that area.
The animals that did survive were left without land or food, and some young giant anteaters were orphaned. In the aftermath of the fires, IFAW worked to support the Orphans of Fire initiative with the Tamandua Institute, dedicated to rescuing these motherless anteaters. Six young anteaters were rescued and rehabilitated before being taught the skills they need to survive in the wild.
One of these animals, named Tupã, was found when he was just one month old and was rehabilitated at the Orphans of Fire. He and the other rescued pups were bottle-fed and received extensive care. By the time he was 11 months old, Tupã had grown to be the largest of the pups and was able to slowly reintegrate back into his natural habitat.
Before his release, Tupã was fitted with a GPS harness to track his movements so experts could ensure that his rehabilitation had gone to plan and he was thriving in the wild.
In November 2022, another anteater, Joaquim, was also successfully released. A third, named Venus, was also released, but she sadly became a stark reminder that the animals we rehabilitate and release still face threats in the wild, as she was later found dead—likely as a result of human-wildlife conflict.
We also helped Tamandua Institute acquire a new vehicle, which not only enables them to continue their rescue and rehabilitation work with these fantastic animals, but also will help the team mobilise in the event of a wildfire.
How can you help?
Help IFAW continue our lifesaving work around the world for anteaters and other animals.