The anteater, from the suborder Vermilingua, is any of four species of toothless, insect-eating mammals. They are found in tropical savannas and forests from southern Mexico to Paraguay and northern Argentina. These long-tailed animals feature elongated skulls and tubular muzzles. Their mouths are small, but their salivary glands are large, secreting sticky saliva onto a wormlike tongue, which can be up to 60 cm long in the giant anteater. Anteaters live alone or in pairs and eat mainly ants and termites. They capture prey by sticking their tongues into insect nests, which they tear open using their long, sharp, curved front claws. They also use these claws for defense. When threatened, giant anteaters and the smaller tamanduas use their hind legs and tail as a tripod, freeing their front limbs to slash at attackers.

Where do anteaters live in the world?

Anteaters are mammals that live in tropical savannas and forests from southern Mexico to Paraguay and northern Argentina. They are represented by four species of toothless, insect-eating animals with long tails, elongated skulls, and tubular muzzles. The giant anteater can be commonly found in the tropical grasslands (Llanos) of Venezuela. It also lives in the Amazon basin southward to the grasslands of Paraguay and Argentina. The silky anteater makes its home from southern Mexico to Bolivia and Brazil. Northern tamanduas are found from eastern Mexico to northwestern South America, while southern tamanduas live from the island of Trinidad southward to northern Argentina.

What do anteaters eat?

Anteaters are mammals that subsist primarily on a diet of ants and termites. They utilize their long, sharp, curved claws to tear open insect nests and then insert their wormlike tongues, which can be up to 60 cm long, to capture prey. Large salivary glands secrete sticky saliva onto the tongue, aiding in the capture of insects. They live alone or in pairs (usually mother and offspring). When threatened, giant anteaters and tamanduas use their hind legs and tail as a tripod, freeing their front limbs to slash at attackers.

How do anteaters catch their food without teeth?

Anteaters, belonging to the suborder Vermilingua, lack teeth and depend on their tongues to capture prey. Their mouths have small openings, but their salivary glands are large, secreting sticky saliva onto their wormlike tongues, which can be up to 60 cm long in the giant anteater. They use long, sharp, curved claws on their front feet to tear open insect nests, then insert their tongues to capture ants and termites. This adaptation of a wormlike extensible tongue and loss or simplification of teeth is a trend associated with myrmecophagy ("ant eating").

What are the different types of anteaters?

The four species of anteaters, which are toothless, insect-eating mammals, are the giant anteater, the tamandua, and the silky anteater. The giant anteater ( Myrmecophaga tridactyla ) is the largest, growing up to 1.8 meters long. Tamanduas ( Tamandua ) are smaller and can live in trees as well as on the ground. There are two species of tamandua: the northern tamandua ( T. mexicana ) and the southern tamandua ( T. tetradactyla ). The silky anteater ( Cyclopes didactylus ) is the smallest, and is also called the two-toed, pygmy, or dwarf anteater.

How are anteaters specially adapted to their environment?

Anteaters are well-adapted to their environment through unique features. They have elongated skulls and tubular muzzles with small mouth openings, but large salivary glands produce sticky saliva for their long, wormlike tongues, which can be up to 60 cm in the giant anteater, to capture ants and termites. Their front feet have long, sharp, curved claws used to tear open insect nests and for defense. When threatened, giant anteaters and tamanduas use their hind legs and tail as a tripod, freeing their front limbs to slash at attackers. The giant anteater uses its keen sense of smell to track ants.

anteater

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Images & Videos

A giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) with a long snout and bushy tail forages with its claws in a fallen log on grassy ground in the Pantanal Wetlands, Brazil.

Illustration of a giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) showing its long, bushy tail, elongated snout with a protruding tongue, and distinctive black and white markings along its shoulder and side. A scale bar above indicates length in centimeters and inches.

Observe a giant anteater using its long muzzle and wormlike tongue to eat and drink

A tamandua, or lesser anteater, extends its long tongue. Overlaid text reads "16 inch TONGUE" with an arrow pointing to the tongue. Forest background.

A lesser anteater, or southern tamandua (Tamandua tetradactyla), climbs along a tree branch in the rainforest, with its black and white fur visible against a green background.

The fascinating world of silky anteaters

A pangolin walks through grass with a blue circle around it and the word endangered written in white across the image.

A giant anteater with a long snout and bushy tail stands on green grass in the Pantanal wetlands, surrounded by tall vegetation.

At a Glance

A giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) with a long snout and bushy tail stands on grassy ground in the Pantanal Wetlands, Brazil, surrounded by tall green plants.

anteater summary

Quick Facts

Related Topics:: giant anteater; southern tamandua; silky anteater; Pilosa

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anteater

mammal

Also known as: Vermilingua

Written by

Alfred L. Gardner

Fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

History

Top Questions

What is an anteater?
The anteater, from the suborder Vermilingua, is any of four species of toothless, insect-eating mammals. They are found in tropical savannas and forests from southern Mexico to Paraguay and northern Argentina.

These long-tailed animals feature elongated skulls and tubular muzzles. Their mouths are small, but their salivary glands are large, secreting sticky saliva onto a wormlike tongue, which can be up to 60 cm long in the giant anteater. Anteaters live alone or in pairs and eat mainly ants and termites. They capture prey by sticking their tongues into insect nests, which they tear open using their long, sharp, curved front claws. They also use these claws for defense. When threatened, giant anteaters and the smaller tamanduas use their hind legs and tail as a tripod, freeing their front limbs to slash at attackers.
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1. anteater
2. avoidance behaviour: Protection reflexes, armour, and spines
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Where do anteaters live in the world?
Anteaters are mammals that live in tropical savannas and forests from southern Mexico to Paraguay and northern Argentina. They are represented by four species of toothless, insect-eating animals with long tails, elongated skulls, and tubular muzzles.

The giant anteater can be commonly found in the tropical grasslands (Llanos) of Venezuela. It also lives in the Amazon basin southward to the grasslands of Paraguay and Argentina. The silky anteater makes its home from southern Mexico to Bolivia and Brazil. Northern tamanduas are found from eastern Mexico to northwestern South America, while southern tamanduas live from the island of Trinidad southward to northern Argentina.
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1. anteater: The tamandua
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What do anteaters eat?
Anteaters are mammals that subsist primarily on a diet of ants and termites. They utilize their long, sharp, curved claws to tear open insect nests and then insert their wormlike tongues, which can be up to 60 cm long, to capture prey. Large salivary glands secrete sticky saliva onto the tongue, aiding in the capture of insects. They live alone or in pairs (usually mother and offspring). When threatened, giant anteaters and tamanduas use their hind legs and tail as a tripod, freeing their front limbs to slash at attackers.
2 Britannica Sources
1. anteater
2. Definition of anteater
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How do anteaters catch their food without teeth?
Anteaters, belonging to the suborder Vermilingua, lack teeth and depend on their tongues to capture prey. Their mouths have small openings, but their salivary glands are large, secreting sticky saliva onto their wormlike tongues, which can be up to 60 cm long in the giant anteater. They use long, sharp, curved claws on their front feet to tear open insect nests, then insert their tongues to capture ants and termites. This adaptation of a wormlike extensible tongue and loss or simplification of teeth is a trend associated with myrmecophagy ("ant eating").
2 Britannica Sources
1. anteater
2. mammal: Teeth
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What are the different types of anteaters?
The four species of anteaters, which are toothless, insect-eating mammals, are the giant anteater, the tamandua, and the silky anteater. The giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) is the largest, growing up to 1.8 meters long. Tamanduas (Tamandua) are smaller and can live in trees as well as on the ground. There are two species of tamandua: the northern tamandua (T. mexicana) and the southern tamandua (T. tetradactyla). The silky anteater (Cyclopes didactylus) is the smallest, and is also called the two-toed, pygmy, or dwarf anteater.
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1. anteater
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How are anteaters specially adapted to their environment?
Anteaters are well-adapted to their environment through unique features. They have elongated skulls and tubular muzzles with small mouth openings, but large salivary glands produce sticky saliva for their long, wormlike tongues, which can be up to 60 cm in the giant anteater, to capture ants and termites. Their front feet have long, sharp, curved claws used to tear open insect nests and for defense. When threatened, giant anteaters and tamanduas use their hind legs and tail as a tripod, freeing their front limbs to slash at attackers. The giant anteater uses its keen sense of smell to track ants.
1 Britannica Source
1. anteater
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

anteater, (suborder Vermilingua), any of four species of toothless, insect-eating mammals found in tropical savannas and forests from southern Mexico to Paraguay and northern Argentina. They are long-tailed animals with elongated skulls and tubular muzzles. The mouth opening of the muzzle is small, but the salivary glands are large and secrete sticky saliva onto a wormlike tongue, which can be as long as 60 cm (24 inches) in the giant anteater. Anteaters live alone or in pairs (usually mother and offspring) and feed mainly on ants and termites. They capture their prey by inserting their tongues into insect nests that they have torn open with the long, sharp, curved claws of their front feet; the claws are also used for defense. Giant anteaters and the smaller tamanduas use their hind legs and tail as a tripod when threatened, which thus frees the front limbs to slash at attackers.

The giant anteater

The giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla), sometimes called the ant bear, is the largest member of the anteater family and is best known in the tropical grasslands (Llanos) of Venezuela, where it is still common. It was once found in the lowland forests of Central America and still lives in the Amazon basin southward to the grasslands of Paraguay and Argentina. Gray with a diagonal white-bordered black stripe on each shoulder, the giant anteater attains a length of about 1.8 metres (6 feet), including the long bushy tail, and weighs up to 40 kg (88 pounds). This ground dweller is mainly diurnal, but in areas near human settlement it is most active at night.

Using its keen sense of smell to track ants, the giant anteater walks with a shuffle, bearing its weight on the sides and knuckles of its forefeet. When harried, it is capable of a clumsy gallop. The giant anteater is also a good swimmer. It does not seem to use dens or other resting places on a permanent basis but chooses instead a secluded spot where it can curl up to rest, with its huge tail covering both its head and its body. Females bear a single offspring after a gestation period of about 190 days. A young anteater looks identical, except in size, to an adult, and, from two or three weeks following birth until it is about a year old, it rides on its mother’s back as she travels. The home ranges of individual anteaters living in the Llanos overlap and can cover more than 2,500 hectares (6,000 acres). The giant anteater is the longest-lived anteater; one in captivity reportedly survived 25 years.

Young chimpanzee dressed in a shirt and sweater vest, scratching his head thinking. (primates)

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The tamandua

Unlike the giant anteater, the lesser anteater, or tamandua (genus Tamandua), is arboreal as well as terrestrial. The two tamandua species are similar in size—about 1.2 metres (4 feet) long, including the almost-hairless prehensile tail, which is used for climbing. They are often tan with a blackish “vest” around the shoulders and on the body, but some are entirely tan or entirely black. Tamanduas have shorter fur and proportionately shorter muzzles than giant anteaters.

The tamandua, meaning “catcher of ants” in the Tupí language of eastern Brazil, eats both termites and ants and often uses the same pathway day after day in search of food. Although many species of ants are eaten by tamanduas, they are selective, eating relatively few ants of any given colony and avoiding those with painful stings or bites, such as army ants (genus Eciton). Tamandua dens can be found in hollow trees and logs or in the ground, and individual home ranges cover about 75 hectares (185 acres). The northern tamandua (T. mexicana) is found from eastern Mexico to northwestern South America; the southern tamandua (T. tetradactyla) is found from the island of Trinidad southward to northern Argentina.

The silky anteater

Also known as the two-toed, pygmy, or dwarf anteater, the silky anteater (Cyclopes didactylus) is the smallest and least-known member of the family. The silky anteater is found from southern Mexico southward to Bolivia and Brazil. It is not rare but is difficult to spot because it is nocturnal and lives high in the trees. It is also exquisitely camouflaged, its silky yellowish coat matching both the colour and the texture of fibrous seed masses produced by the silk-cotton tree (see kapok). During the day the silky anteater rests amid clumps of tropical vines (see liana).

Silky anteaters seldom exceed 300 grams (11 ounces). The animal’s maximum overall length is about 44 cm (17 inches). About one-half of that length is the furred prehensile tail. There are two clawed toes on each forefoot. (The forefoot of the tamandua has four clawed toes, whereas that of the giant anteater has three prominent clawed toes flanked by two small toes.) The silky anteater has large eyes that allow foraging at night. The feet are equipped with heel pads that can be opposed against the claws, enabling the animal to grip small branches as it travels the forest canopy along lianas and other vines. Males live in territories of 5–10 hectares (12–25 acres) that overlap with those of several females.

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Classification

The giant anteater and tamanduas constitute the family Myrmecophagidae, which means “ant-eating” in Latin, whereas the silky anteater is classified in a family of its own, Cyclopedidae. Together the two families make up the anteater suborder, Vermilingua (literally “worm-tongue” in Latin). Anteaters, along with sloths, are placed within the mammalian order Pilosa of the magnorder Xenarthra. A number of animals unrelated to the myrmecophagids are also called anteaters. The banded anteater (see numbat), for example, is a marsupial. The scaly anteater (see pangolin) was formerly grouped with xenarthrans in an order called Edentata, but it has since been assigned to its own separate order. The short-beaked echidna is often called a spiny anteater, but this animal is even more distantly related (see monotreme). The African aardvark also belongs to a different mammalian order, yet, like the anteater, it has a tubular muzzle for eating ants and is sometimes called an antbear.

Alfred L. Gardner

anteater

The giant anteater

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The tamandua

The silky anteater

Classification