GIANT ANTEATER

SCIENTIFIC CLASSIFICATION

COMMON NAME: giant anteater KINGDOM: Animalia PHYLUM: Chordata CLASS: Mammalia ORDER: Xenarthra FAMILY: Myrmecophagidae GENUS SPECIES: Myrmecophaga (to eat ants) tridactyla (three toe/finger)

FAST FACTS

DESCRIPTION: Tapered head with a long, tubular mouth opening. They have poor vision, but excellent hearing and sense of smell. Their body is long and slender. Their coat is a coarse, dense fur with a gray coloring and a broad, diagonal black stripe edged in white running from neck and chest toward the mid-dorsal.

SIZE: head & body length: 100-120 cm (3.3-3.9 ft.) tail length: 65-90 cm (2.1-3.0 ft.)

WEIGHT: Males may exceed 45.5 kg (100 lbs.), but are usually 20-40.9 kg (44-90 lb.); females 20% smaller

DIET: Insects such as termites, ants, beetles, insect larvae; occasionally fruit. The giant anteater fulfills it's need for water by licking wet vegetation.

GESTATION: 180-190 days; one offspring per birth NURSING DURATION Approximately 6 months

SEXUAL MATURITY: 2-3 years

LIFE SPAN: Unknown in the wild; up to 26 years in captivity

RANGE: Southern Mexico, through Central America, and South America east of the Andes through Uruguay and northern Argentina

HABITAT: Grasslands, savannas, and open tropical forests

POPULATION: GLOBAL Unknown

STATUS: IUCN Vulnerable CITES Appendix II USFWS Not listed