Giant Anteater
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[Photo] Giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla), Aalborg Zoo, Denmark, 2003. Date: 11. maj, 2002. Photo credit: Malene Thyssen, www.mtfoto.dk/malene/

The Giant Anteater, Myrmecophaga tridactyla, is the largest species of anteater. It is found in Central and South America. It is the only species in the Myrmecophaga genus.

It is a solitary animal, found in many habitats, including grasslands, deciduous forests and rainforests. It feeds mainly on ants and termites, sometimes up to 30,000 insects in a single day.

Subspecies
Myrmecophaga tridactyla artata Osgood, 1912
Myrmecophaga tridactyla centralis Lyon, 1906

Physiology
The Giant Anteater is one of only two mammals without any teeth even in a mature state (the Pangolin being the other). An ant eater instead crushes insects it consumes using hard growths found on the inside of its mouth, and its muscular stomach. Sand and small rocks have also been found in anteaters' stomachs, suggesting that these are ingested to aid digestion (possible gastroliths).

It grows to a size of 6 feet (1.8 m) to 8 feet (2.4 m) long, including a 3 foot (90 cm) to 4 foot (1.2 m) torso and tail. Generally it weighs from 65 (29 kg) to 140 pounds (65 kg).

The Giant Anteater is covered with stiff, straw-like hair which grows up to 40 cm long on the tail. Young have soft hair until it matures. The dominant colouring may be grey or brown, but all have a diagonal black and white shoulder stripe.

The Giant Anteater is generally acknowledged to have a keen sense of smell, used to locate ants, but is thought to have poor sight and hearing.

Despite its name, Myrmecophaga Tridactyla, from the Greek meaning 'three fingers', the anteater has five digits on each foot; however the middle three digits of the forefeet have elongated claws. These are extremely strong and are used to break open ant and termite mounds in order to feed, as well as effective defense from predators. The anteater walks on its knuckles in order to protect them, giving it a shuffling gait. The forefeet also have one other smaller claw, and the rear feet have five small claws.

The anteater's tongue can reach two feet (60 cm) in length, with a width of only 1/2 inch (12.5 mm). The anteater can cover its tongue in a sticky saliva, allowing it to trap ants, and can extend and withdraw it up to 150 times per minute. By convergent evolution pangolins, the giant anteater, Myrmecophaga tridactyla, and the tube-lipped nectar bat all have tongues which are detached from their hyoid bone and extend past their pharynx deep into the thorax. This extension lies between the sternum and the trachea.

The Giant Anteater does not sleep in any fixed place, instead curling up in abandoned burrows and hollows. It covers its body with its long, bushy tail to sleep.

It bears a single offspring after a gestation period of 190 days, which will stay near the mother until she becomes pregnant again. The baby spends much of the first part of its life riding on its mother's back, until it is nearly half her size.

In the wild, the Giant Anteater is nocturnal or active at night near human settlements and diurnal or active during the day elsewhere. It stays mainly on dry ground but is a strong and capable swimmer.

When threatened, it stands up on its hind legs, using its tail to aid balance, and may strike extremely rapidly with its claws or "hug" attackers much like a bear. An adult anteater is capable of fending off or even killing its main predators, big cats such as the jaguar and the cougar.

Reproduction
The mating system of M. tridactyla is not known. Reproductive behavior is primarily observed in captivity. The male stands over the female who lays on her side during copulation.

Gestation is approximately 190 days, after which females give birth to a single young that weighs about 2.8 lb(1.3 kg). Females give birth standing up and immediately the young anteater climbs onto her back. Young are born with a full coat of hair and adult-like markings. Breeding occurs year-round in captivity and the wild, though seasonal breeding times have been reported in portions of their range. Inter-birth intervals can be as low as nine months. Sexual maturity is reached between 2.5 and 4 years. The mammary glands are lateral to the 'armpits' on the chest.

Breeding interval: Giant anteaters can breed as often as every 9 months, though it is often longer.
Breeding season: Giant anteaters may breed year round, or seasonally depending on region.
Number of offspring: 1 (average)
Gestation period: 190 days (average)
Time to weaning: 6 months (average)
Time to independence: 24 months (average)
Age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female): 2.50 to 4 years
Age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male): 2.50 to 4 years

Communication and perception
Most communication occurs between young and their mothers or during fighting. It consists of snorts, sniffs, and hisses, as well as roaring during fights. Sight and hearing are diminished. Smell is highly developed-40 times that of humans.

Food habits
Giant anteaters eat ants, termites and soft-bodied grubs. Using the long, sharp claws on their forelimbs, they open insect colonies and tree trunks. They then use the tongue to collect the eggs, larvae, and adult insects. The salivary glands secrete sticky saliva during feeding that coats the tongue. They only stay at one ant colony for a short period of time because soldier ants arrive but giant anteaters can consume a few thousand insects in minutes. The tongue is attached to the sternum and moves very quickly, flicking 150 times per minute. They sometimes eat fruit and eggs.

Threats
The jaguar (Panthera onca) and the cougar (Puma concolor) are known predators of giant anteasters but they can use their immense front claws to defend themselves from predators, though their typical response to threat is to run away. Their size makes them invulnerable to all but the largest of predators, jaguars and pumas primarily. They are often killed by humans, either intentionally through hunting or unintentionally through collisions with cars.

In April 2007, an anteater at the Florencio Varela zoo in Argentina attacked Melisa Casco, a zookeeper, mauling her abdomen and legs with its sharp front claws. The 19-year old zookeeper was admitted to the hospital in critical condition, and later succumbed to her injuries.

Conservation status
Habitat destruction is the primary threat to giant anteaters. They are listed as Appendix II by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Appendix II is defined as a species not necessarily threatened to extinction but one that should be controlled in trade to avoid overuse. They are listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN). 'Vulnerable' is defined as an estimated population reduction of 20% in the next 10 years.

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