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Myrmecophaga tridactyla Superregnum: Eukaryota Name Myrmecophaga tridactyla Linnaeus, 1758 Type locality: "America meridionali", Brazil, Pernambuco (Thomas, 1911) References Myrmecophaga tridactyla in Mammal Species of the World.
The Giant Anteater, Myrmecophaga tridactyla, is the largest species of anteater. It is the only species in the genus Myrmecophaga. It is found in Central and South America from Honduras to northern Argentina.[2] Its fossil remains have been found as far north as northwestern Sonora, Mexico.[3] 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. The genus name Myrmecophaga is from Greek murmekos, ant, and phagein, to eat.
The giant anteater is one of few taxa of mammals without any teeth even in a mature state. An anteater instead crushes insects it consumes using hard growths found on the inside of its mouth, and its flabby stomach. Sand and small rocks have also been found in anteaters' stomachs, suggesting that these are ingested to aid digestion (possible gastroliths). They have an average body temperature of 32.7oC, which is one of the lowest of all land-living mammals. This low rate of metabolism, common in xenarthrans, means it is inactive for a mammal.[4] Unlike most mammals, the giant anteater's gastric acid does not contain hydrochloric acid; rather, it uses formic acid produced by its prey.[5] It grows to a size of up to 7 feet (2.1 m) in length, with a 4-foot-long (1.2 m) head and torso, and a 3-foot-long (0.91 m) tail. Generally it weighs from 65 to 140 pounds (29 to 64 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 they are mature. 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 very keen sense of smell, used to locate ants, but is thought to have poor sight and hearing. 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. In the wild, it is nocturnal (or active at night) near human settlements, and diurnal (active during the day) elsewhere. It stays mainly on dry ground but is a strong and capable swimmer. When threatened it does not flee, but stands up on its hind legs, using its tail to aid balance, as if to indicate how little it is impressed by its predator, and sometimes strikes extremely rapidly with its claws or "hugs" 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. Anatomy
The anteater's tongue can reach 2 feet (61 cm) in length, but has a width of only 1⁄2 inch (13 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. Pangolins, the giant anteater, and the tube-lipped nectar bat all have developed tongues which are detached from their hyoid bone and extend past their pharynx deep into the thorax, an example of convergent evolution.[7] This extension lies between the sternum and the trachea. Reproduction
The mating system of M. tridactyla is not well known. Reproductive behavior is primarily observed in captivity . 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 the newborn anteater immediately 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.
Most communication occurs between young and their mothers or during fighting. It consists of snorts, sniffs, and hisses, as well as roaring during fights. They have rather poor sight and hearing. 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 to avoid soldier ants, 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 will eat fruit and birds' eggs on occasion. Threats
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. It is estimated that there are only as few as 5,000 left in the wild, and only 90 live in zoos across the United States. References ^ Gardner, Alfred L. (16 November 2005). "Order Pilosa (pp. 100-103)". In Wilson, Don E., and Reeder, DeeAnn M., eds. Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2 vols. (2142 pp.). p. 102. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494. Louise H. Emmons and Francois Feer, 1997 – Neotropical Rainforest Mammals, A Field Guide. Source: Wikipedia, Wikispecies: All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License |
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