Anteaters

Anteaters (Myrmecophagidae),a family of Edentate mammals, confined to the wooded parts of the Neotropical region. They are clothed with hair; quite toothless; mouth tubular, with a small aperture, through which the long vermiform tongue, covered with a viscid secretion, is protruded in feeding; the third digit of the fore limbs is greatly developed, and armed with a strong claw. There are three genera: (1) Myrmecophaga, with a single species (M. jubata), the great anteater, or ant-bear, widely distributed in the swamps of Central and South America. In length it is about four feet, exclusive of the tail, which is about as much more, and fringed with long hair; general colour, dark grey, with a broad black band edged with white passing from the chest backwards across the shoulders to the loins. When the animal stands still it is higher at the shoulders than behind, and it rests on the sides of the fore feet, where there is a callous pad, the claws being bent inwards and upwards. This species is wholly terrestrial, and feeds almost entirely on ants, to procure which it breaks open their dwellings with the powerful claws of the fore feet, and draws them rapidly into its mouth with its flexible tongue. (2) Tamandua, from Guatemala, ranging through South America from Ecuador to Paraguay. There is one well-defined species (T. tetradactyla), but as individuals vary greatly in coloration, Professor Flower thinks it possible there may be more. This form is arboreal, about half the size of the great anteater, the head is shorter, the tail prehensile, and covered with scales on the under side and terminal part. The general colour is yellowish-white, with a broad band on the side. (3) Cyclothurus, with one species (C. didactylus), the little, or two-toed, anteater, also arboreal. It is about the size of a squirrel, yellowish in colour, but little is known of its habits. The name anteater is given in Australia to a small marsupial Myrmecobius fasciatus, about the size of a squirrel; the fur is chestnut-red, marked on the hinder part of the back with broad white transverse bands.