🦦
🏷️
Classification
Mammal
🍽️
Diet
Insectivore
⏱️
Lifespan
14–16 years
⚖️
Weight
22–39 kg
Population Trend
📉Decreasing
Description
The largest anteater species, adapted to a diet of ants and termites with its elongated snout and sticky tongue.
Habitat
🌿 grassland🌿 tropical forest🌿 swamp
Extended Data
Taxonomy
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Mammalia
Order
Pilosa
Family
Myrmecophagidae
Genus
Myrmecophaga
Fun Facts
1
Their tongue can extend up to 60 cm and flicks 150 times per minute.
2
Anteaters have no teeth — they grind insects against hard stomach folds.
3
They sleep up to 15 hours a day to conserve energy from a low-calorie diet.
4
Their powerful claws can dig into concrete-hard termite mounds.
5
Despite being solitary, mothers carry babies on their backs for up to a year.