Creature Feature Encyclopedia: Mammalia

Giant Anteater Myrmecophaga tridactyla

"Anteaters are normally nomadic. They roam the jungles of Central and South America in search of ants and termites. It would be difficult for anteaters to eat much of anything else because they are completely toothless. Anteaters use their sharp, powerful claws to rip into termite nests and ant burrows. Then they use their long, sticky tongues to lick up the insects they find. Most anteaters live up in the trees. Only the giant anteater lives on the forest floor. He must walk on the knuckles of his front feet to keep his claws from being dulled."

~A Walk in the Rainforest © 1992