The anteater has no teeth. It uses its long, sticky tongue to catch prey. This tongue is narrow, covered with many sharp spines, and can be up to 60 cm long.
The anteater captures ants and termites through small holes at the top of the ant mound. They never destroy these ant mounds. Anteaters must eat very quickly to avoid being bitten by ants. They can flick their tongue 150 to 160 times per minute to catch enough ants to eat without getting bitten. An anteater can consume up to 30,000 ants in a single day.
The anteater captures ants and termites through small holes at the top of the ant mound.
The stomach of the anteater has a special structure that can crush large amounts of ants and termites, facilitating the digestion process. This stomach produces formic acid instead of the hydrochloric acid commonly found in other mammals.
The anteater has poor eyesight but possesses an acute sense of smell, which is 40 times more sensitive than that of humans. They use their nose to find food. The body temperature of the anteater is 32.7°C, which is lower than that of other placental mammals. In the wild, anteaters can live up to 15 years, and up to 25 years in captivity.
The anteater sleeps 15 hours a day.
The anteater sleeps 15 hours a day. Its claws can grow up to 10 cm long and are used to protect itself from enemies such as jaguars or lions. The anteater is pregnant for 190 days and typically gives birth to one pup per litter. The young anteater stays with its mother for two years until she becomes pregnant again. During the first year of life, the mother anteater carries her pup on her back.
