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How have unrelated ant-eating mammals evolved similar feeding adaptations?

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Two wild horses graze on tall grass in the open prairie of Theodore Roosevelt National Park, with rolling badlands visible in the background. — Feeding behaviour Wild horses graze in the Badlands of North Dakota.

Unrelated ant-eating mammals have evolved similar feeding adaptations through a process known as convergent evolution, where similar environmental pressures lead to analogous physical traits in distantly related species.12

This specialization, termed myrmecophagy, is observed in diverse mammals such as the echidna, numbat, anteater, aardvark, and pangolin. Despite their different evolutionary lineages, these animals share a suite of remarkably similar morphological features:1

Skull and Jaw: They possess an elongated, rounded skull and a tubular muzzle, paired with a marked reduction in the size of the lower jaw.134
Dentition: They exhibit a loss or extreme simplification of teeth, as their diet of ants and termites does not require complex chewing.13
Tongue: They have evolved a wormlike, extensible, and sticky tongue to efficiently lap up insects.134
Claws: They feature strong, sharp claws used to tear open tough insect mounds and nests.134