Anteaters (scientific name: Myrmecophagidae), mammals, a family of the order Pleurotus, only 3 genera and 4 species, distributed in the Americas. The snout is long pointed and the mouth is tubular; the tongue is retractable and rich in mucus, suitable for licking insects; the ears are small and round; The toes also have claws. The skull is slender, fragile, and toothless. Eat ants, termites and other insects. Dwarf anteaters are arboreal and often go to the ground. The giant anteater mainly inhabits moist forests and swampy areas, active during the day or night, and is good at swimming; the small anteater has a coiled tail, and black spots on the throat and shoulders form a collar on the neck, and are mostly hidden in dense forests during the day. Or hide in tree holes, come out at night to forage, and often use forelimb claws to destroy ant nests. Mainly inhabits Central and South America, south to Argentina in tropical forests.

Characteristics

The structural features of the anteater's body are that it preys on it A series of activities of insects are linked. The skull is long and roughly cylindrical, with full cheekbones and a long snout with intricate turbinates. Teeth are slender and toothless. The worm-like long tongue is flexible and flexible, and the tongue is rich in mixed mucus secreted by salivary glands and parotid glands, which is used to stick to many ants. These developed glands are located in the neck. The forelimbs are powerful, the third toe is thick, with strong and curved claws, and the remaining toes are reduced. The ground-dwelling giant anteater walks with knuckles and curved toes, while the smaller anteaters, the two-toed anteater and the ring-necked anteater, lead a fully or partially arboreal life, walking with curved claws on the forelimbs. The introverted toes are on the ground. Anteaters vary widely in size, with the smaller anteater being as large as squirrel, but 350 grams, while the larger anteater weighs 25 kilograms. The giant anteater has long, thick, tan-colored hair all over its body, with long, plump, mostly drooping hairs on the tail, while other arboreal species have shorter hairs on the body and tail, and the tail has the ability to scratch.

Distribution area

In Central and South America, there lives a toothless animal, the anteater. Among them, the giant anteater is as big as a pig, has a huge fluffy tail, and generally lives on the ground. Another small anteater is as large as a dog, with a slightly shorter tail that can be wrapped around and used as a prop, and can live in trees. There is also the smallest two-toed anteater, only the size of a mouse. The former is the more common of the three anteaters. The anteater is odd-looking, with a thin, long head that resembles a big stick. The eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and brain are very small on the head, and there are no teeth in the mouth, but there is a tongue up to 50 cm long. The tongue is shaped like an earthworm and can be retracted. Ant. Anteaters give birth to a cub each, and the cubs often ride out on the mother's back.