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Giant Anteater
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Description |
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Giant anteaters are quite
distinctive morphologically, |
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They are the largest of the
anteater species. |
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The snout is long up to 45 cm in
length and the skull is streamlined with small eyes and ears. |
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The tail is huge and thick and is
nearly as long as the body. |
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Head and body length measures 1,000
to 1,200 mm. |
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Tail length is 650 to 900 mm. |
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Weight ranges from 18 to 39
kilograms. Giant anteaters have fur that is thick and coarse and longer
towards the tail. |
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Their fur is brown with black and
white stripes on the shoulders and a crest of hair along the middle of the
back. |
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The forelegs are white with black
bands at the toes. |
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Their hindfeet have 5 short claws,
while their forefeet have 5 claws with the inner 3 being very long and sharp.
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They walk on the wrists of their
forefeet, with these big claws curled out of the way. |
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Giant anteaters have don’t have any
teeth. |
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The tongue can be extended 610 mm
outside of the mouth and has spine-like extension |
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Reproduction |
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Behavior in reproduction is primarily observed
in captivity. |
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The male stands over the female who lays on
her side during sexual interaction. |
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Gestation is approximately 190 days |
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Females give birth to a single young which
weighs about 1.3 kg. |
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Females give birth standing up and immediately
the youngsters climbs onto her back. |
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Young are born with a full coat of hair and
adult-like markings. |
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Breeding occurs year-round in captivity and in
the wild, though seasonal breeding times have been reported in portions of
their range. |
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Inter-birth intervals can be as low as 9
months. |
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Sexual maturity is reached between 2.5 and 4
years. |
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The mammary glands are lateral to the
'armpits' on the chest. |
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Young are born with a full coat of hair and
adult markings. They are capable of clinging to their mother at birth.
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A mother will carry the baby on her back until
it is almost 1/2 her size, about 6 to 9 months. |
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Young suckle for 2 to 6 months. |
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They become independent after about 2 years,
or when the mother becomes pregnant again, which may be sooner. |
Behavior
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They are usually solitary, except for
mother-young pairs, only coming together for brief periods for courtship and
agonistic encounters. |
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They may have large, defined home ranges up to
9,000 ha in area, but they also wander extensively. |
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When giant anteaters encounter each other in
the wild they often simply ignore each other or run away. |
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Usually diurnal, giant anteaters will become
nocturnal in areas of high human density of different types of weather. |
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They are native but are good swimmers as
well. |
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They don't often climb in the wild, they are
reported to be skilled at climbing out of enclosures in captivity.
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Sleeping occurs in abandoned burrows, dense
vegetation, or depressions in the ground. |
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Although they have the ability to dig well. |
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They do not build burrows. |
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When fights occur individuals rear into a
bipedal stance using the tail to balance and the forelimbs to fight.
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They shuffle while walking and move slowly but
are capable of running quickly if necessary. |
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Their weight is born on the knuckles and wrist
to protect the claws. |
Food Habits
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They eat ants,
termites, and soft-bodied grubs. |
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Using the long,
sharp claws on their forelimbs, they open insect colonies and tree trunks.
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They then use the
tongue to collect the eggs, larvae, and adult insects. |
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The salivary
glands take away sticky saliva during feeding that coats the tongue. |
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They only stay at
one ant colony for a short period of time because soldier ants arrive.
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Anteaters can
consume a few thousand insects in minutes. |
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The tongue is
attached to the sternum and moves very quickly, flicking 150 times per minute.
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They may sometimes
eat fruits. |
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