Site
Index

Subscriptions

Shop

Newsletters

Our
Mission

Home

Animals

Daily News

Environment

Green Guide

History

Kids

Maps

Music

Photography

Science &
Space

Travel &
Cultures

Video

National Geographic
Magazine

National Geographic
Channel

Magazines

Shop

Subscriptions

TV & Film

Travel With
Us

Our Mission

Books
& Atlases

Clothing
& Accessories

DVDs

Maps

Catalog
Quick Shop

Sign up for free

Newsletters

Once a month
get new photos
and expert tips.

Sign
up

advertisement

Animals

Animals
Main

Amphibians

Birds

Bugs

Fish

Invertebrates

Mammals

Pets

Prehistoric

Reptiles

A-Z

Giant Anteater

Mymecophaga tridactyla

A giant anteater searches for a meal.

Photograph by Nicole
Duplaix

Giant Anteater Profile

Anteaters are edentate animals—they have no teeth.
But their long tongues are more than sufficient to lap
up the 35,000 ants and termites they swallow whole each
day.

The anteater uses its sharp claws to tear an
opening into an anthill and put its long snout and
efficient tongue to work. But it has to eat quickly,
flicking its tongue up to 160 times per minute. Ants
fight back with painful stings, so an anteater may spend
only a minute feasting on each mound. Anteaters never
destroy a nest, preferring to return and feed again in
the future.

These animals find their quarry not
by sight—theirs is poor—but by smell.

Anteaters
are found in Central and South America, where they
prefer tropical forests and grasslands. There are four
different species which vary greatly in size. The silky
anteater is the size of a squirrel, while the giant
anteater can reach 7 feet (2.1 meters) long from the tip
of its snout to the end of its tail. Some anteaters, the
tamandua and the silky anteater, ply their trade in the
trees. They travel from branch to branch in search of
tasty insects.

Anteaters are generally solitary
animals. Females have a single offspring once a year,
which can sometimes be seen riding on its mother's
back.

Anteaters are not aggressive but they can
be fierce. A cornered anteater will rear up on its hind
legs, using its tail for balance, and lash out with
dangerous claws. The giant anteater's claws are some
four inches (ten centimeters) long, and the animal can
fight off even a puma or jaguar.

Fast Facts

Type: Mammal

Diet: Carnivore

Average lifespan in the wild: 14
years

Size: Head and body, 6 to 49 in (15
to 124 cm); Tail, 7 to 35 in (18 to 89 cm)

Weight: 6 oz to 86 lbs (170 g to 39
kg)

Did you know? The tongue on a giant
anteater can protrude more than 2 feet (60 cm) to
capture prey.

Protection status: Threatened

Size relative to a 6-ft (2-m)
man:

Multimedia

Giant Anteater Printable Factsheet

Other "Nosy" Animal Features

Photo
of the Day: A Nose for Food

See a photo of an exotic sea moth seeking food with
its long nose in Papua New Guinea's Milne Bay.

View
Photo

Photo
of the Day: The Nose Knows

See young prairie dogs performing what scientists
believe is a recognition ritual, touching noses and even
occasionally locking teeth.

View
Photos

The
Smell of Trouble

Learn about the long odds of survival faced by
Borneo's long-nosed proboscis monkeys in this
feature.

Learn
More

How You Can Help

Other Odd-Looking Mammals

Warthog

Aardvark

Tapir

Three-Toed
Sloth

Aye-Aye

Platypus

Giant Anteater range

advertisement

Special Advertising Sections

Discover
Ecuador

Browse gorgeous photos and explore the four worlds of
Ecuador on an interactive map.

Download
City Guides

Check out the local hotspots with downloadable city
guides.

Mammals Right Rail

Get the Latest Headlines

Make us your online news source.

Read
News

Get Animal Pictures

Get your daily dose of photos.

See
Photos

Get the Call of the Wild

Make your phone roar like a lion or howl like a
coyote with Nat Geo Mobile.

Get
Ringtones, Wallpapers, More

For Kids!

It's no stretch to find fun facts on our Kids
site!

Fun
and Games

Shop National Geographic DVDs

Whatever your interest, you'll be entertained and
educated with our collection of best-selling DVDs.

Shop
Now

Animals
Site Map

Animals
Audio Credits

Home | Animals |
Daily News
| Environment
| Green Guide | History |
Kids | Maps | Music |
Photography
| Science
& Space | Travel &
Cultures | Video

Magazines
| Shop
| Subscriptions
| TV &
Film | Stock Footage
Sales | Travel With
Us | About
the Society | Educators

Give to NGS
| Contact
Us | Newsletters
| Jobs | Press
Room | Site
Index | Customer
Service | Advertise
With Us | Global
Sites | Terms
of Service | Privacy
Policy

© 1996-2009 National Geographic Society. All rights
reserved.