What is anteater for kids?
Anteaters. Anteaters are toothless mammals that live in South and Central America. They have long tongues that are covered with tiny spines and sticky saliva to capture insects. These are crushed in its mouth before being swallowed.
Did you know facts about anteaters?
The following facts about the anteater will shine some light on this often misunderstood but captivating creature.
- Anteater Tongues Are Covered in Spines.
- They Have Knife-Like Claws.
- Anteaters Don’t Just Eat Ants.
- Anteaters Have No Teeth.
- They Have the Lowest Body Temperature of Any Mammal.
What is special about anteaters?
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. As the largest of all four anteater species, the giant anteater can reach eight feet long from the tip of its snout to the end of its tail.
Do anteaters walk on 2 legs?
They don’t walk on their feet; instead, with the claws curled up into the feet, anteaters walk on their “fists.” This helps to keep the claws sharp so anteaters can dig into ant mounds or defend themselves from predators.
What do anteaters eat?
ants and termites
Anteaters feed almost exclusively on ants and termites, whose nests they rip open with their powerful forelimbs and claws, and then ingest with their sticky tongue. They only consume about 140 insects from each mound during a single feeding.
How fast are anteaters?
31 miles per hour
With a tongue that moves in and out 150 times per minute, the giant anteater can eat up to 30,000 insects in a single day. Top speed for the giant anteater is 31 miles per hour. At 32.7 degrees centigrade (roughly 91 degrees Fahrenheit), anteaters have the lowest body temperature of any placental mammal.
Do anteaters have eyes?
Its eyes and ears are relatively small. It has poor eyesight, but its sense of smell is 40 times more sensitive than that of humans.
Are anteaters blind?
Giant anteaters are practically blind, finding ants and termites by their impressive sense of smell. Due to the low energy content of their prey, giant anteaters save energy by having very low metabolic rates and body temperatures as low as 33°C.
Where do anteaters sleep?
The animal generally sleeps in a small cavity it makes with its claws in sandy soil. In the Pantanal, giant anteaters rest mainly in forest patches and savanna, and often forage on grasslands and scrub savanna or use them to move from one type of habitat to another.
Do anteaters lay eggs?
The female anteater lays usually one leathery-shelled egg directly into the pouch on her belly. The egg hatches after only ten or eleven days. The newborn baby is tiny, about the size of a dime. After the baby hatches, it stays in the pouch for several weeks and continues to develop.
How fast do anteaters run?
They walk in a slow, shuffling gait but when necessary can gallop at over 30 miles per hour (48 kilometers per hour). They can also climb and swim. The largest of the four anteater species, giant anteaters reach 6-8 feet (1.8-2.4 meters) in length, including both nose and tail.
Where do anteaters live?
Giant anteaters are found throughout Central and South America except for Guatemala, Uruguay and El Salvador, where they are considered to be extinct. They live in wetlands, grasslands and tropical forests.
Do anteaters hibernate?
All anteater species naturally have such slow metabolic rates that when they fall asleep, they enter a state of semi-torpor, which is similar to a brief and light hibernation. It is hard to wake them from this state, and when they do wake up, it takes them quite a while to get moving for the day.
Do anteaters have ears?
Myrmecophaga tridactyla. Description: The Giant anteater has a narrow head, long nose, small eyes and round ears.