Giant anteater

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Giant anteater [1]
Temporal range: Montehermosan–Recent
~5–0  Ma
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Myresluger2.jpg
A specimen at Copenhagen Zoo, Denmark, 2005
CITES Appendix II (CITES) [3]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Pilosa
Family: Myrmecophagidae
Genus: Myrmecophaga
Linnaeus, 1758 [4]
Species:
M. tridactyla
Binomial name
Myrmecophaga tridactyla
Giant Anteater area.png
Range
  extant
  possibly extinct
Synonyms
  • Myrmecophaga jubataLinnaeus,  1766
  • FalciferRehn, 1900 [5]

The giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) is an insectivorous mammal native to Central and South America. It is one of four living species of anteaters, of which it is the largest member. The only extant member of the genus Myrmecophaga, it is classified with sloths in the order Pilosa. This species is mostly terrestrial, in contrast to other living anteaters and sloths, which are arboreal or semiarboreal. The giant anteater is 182 to 217 cm (72 to 85 in) in length, with weights of 33 to 50 kg (73 to 110 lb) for males and 27 to 47 kg (60 to 104 lb) for females. It is recognizable by its elongated snout, bushy tail, long fore claws, and distinctively colored pelage.

Contents

The giant anteater is found in multiple habitats, including grassland and rainforest. It forages in open areas and rests in more forested habitats. It feeds primarily on ants and termites, using its fore claws to dig them up and its long, sticky tongue to collect them. Though giant anteaters live in overlapping home ranges, they are mostly solitary except during mother-offspring relationships, aggressive interactions between males, and when mating. Mother anteaters carry their offspring on their backs until weaning them.

The giant anteater is listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. It has been extirpated from many parts of its former range. Threats to its survival include habitat destruction, fire, and poaching for fur and bushmeat, although some anteaters inhabit protected areas. With its distinctive appearance and habits, the anteater has been featured in pre-Columbian myths and folktales, as well as modern popular culture.

Taxonomy

The giant anteater got its binomial name from Carl Linnaeus in 1758. Its generic name, Myrmecophaga, and specific name, tridactyla, are both Greek, meaning "anteater" and "three fingers", respectively. [6] Myrmecophaga jubata was used as a synonym. Three subspecies have been suggested: M. t. tridactyla (Venezuela and the Guianas south to northern Argentina), M. t. centralis (Central America to northwestern Colombia and northern Ecuador), and M. t. artata (northeastern Colombia and northwestern Venezuela). The giant anteater is grouped with the semiarboreal northern and southern tamanduas in the family Myrmecophagidae. Together with the family Cyclopedidae, whose only extant member is the arboreal silky anteater, the two families comprise the suborder Vermilingua. [7]

Anteaters and sloths belong to order Pilosa and share superorder Xenarthra (cladogram below [8] ) with the Cingulata (whose only extant members are armadillos). The two orders of Xenarthra split 66 million years ago (Mya) during the Late Cretaceous epoch. Anteaters and sloths diverged around 55 Mya, between the Paleocene and Eocene epochs. The lineages of Cyclopes and other extant anteaters split around 40 Mya in the Oligocene epoch, while the last common ancestor of Myrmecophaga and Tamandua existed 10 Mya in the Late Miocene subepoch. [8] Though most of their evolutionary history, anteaters were confined to South America, which was formerly an island continent. Following the formation of the Isthmus of Panama about 3 Mya, anteaters of all three extant genera invaded Central America as part of the Great American Interchange. [9]

The fossil record for anteaters is generally sparse. [10] Known fossils include the Pliocene genus Palaeomyrmidon , a close relative to the silky anteater, Protamandua , which is closer to the giant anteater and the tamanduas from the Miocene, and Neotamandua , which is believed have close affinities to Myrmecophaga. [11] Protamandua was larger than the silky anteater, but smaller than a tamandua, while Neotamandua was larger, falling somewhere between a tamandua and a giant anteater. Protamandua did not appear to be specialized for walking or climbing, but it may have had a prehensile tail. Neotamandua, though, is unlikely to have had a prehensile tail and its feet were similar in form to both the tamanduas and the giant anteater. [10] The species Neotamandua borealis was suggested to be an ancestor of the latter. [12] Another member of the genus Myrmecophaga has been recovered from the Montehermosan Monte Hermoso Formation in Argentina and was described by Kraglievitch in 1934 as Nunezia caroloameghinoi. [13] The species was reclassified as Myrmecophaga caroloameghinoi by S. E. Hirschfeld in 1976. [12]

The giant anteater is the most terrestrial of the living anteater species; specialization for life on the ground appears to be a new trait in anteater evolution. The transition to life on the ground could have been aided by the expansion of open habitats such as savanna in South America and the abundance of native colonial insects, such as termites, that provided a larger potential food source. Both the giant anteater and the southern tamandua are well represented in the fossil record of the late Pleistocene and early Holocene. [10]

Characteristics

Myrmecophaga tridactyla - Phoenix Zoo.jpg
Side view
Giant anteater at MAV-USP.jpg
Mounted skeleton
Myrmecogphaga tridactyla (skull).jpg
Skull of a giant anteater

The giant anteater can be identified by its large size, long, narrow muzzle, and long bushy tail. [14] It has a total body length of 182 to 217 cm (72 to 85 in). Males weigh 33 to 50 kg (73 to 110 lb) and females weigh 27 to 47 kg (60 to 104 lb), [6] [15] [16] making the giant anteater the biggest extant species in its suborder. The head of the giant anteater, at 30 cm (12 in) long, [17] is particularly elongated, even when compared to other anteaters. [18] Its cylindrical snout takes up most of its head. Its eyes, ears and mouth are relatively small. [6] It has poor eyesight, [14] but has a powerful sense of smell; 40 times that of a human. [19] While there is some difference in size and shape between the sexes, males being larger and more robust, telling them apart from a distance can be difficult. The male's genitals are located within its body and upon closer examination, its urogenital opening is smaller and farther from the anus than the female's. [20] [21] The female's two mammary glands are located between the front legs. [20]

Even for an anteater, the neck is especially thick compared to the back of the head, [18] and a small hump protrudes behind the neck. The coat is mostly greyish, brown or black with mottled white. They have white front legs with black ringed wrists and hands, and dark hind legs. From the throat to the shoulders is a thick black mark with white outlines and sharp tips. The body ends in a brown tail. The coat hairs are long, especially on the tail, which makes the appendage look larger than it actually is. An erect mane stretches along the back. [6] [22] The bold pattern was thought to be disruptive camouflage, but a 2009 study suggests it is warning coloration. [23]

The giant anteater has broad ribs. It has five toes on each foot. [6] Three toes on the front feet have claws, which are particularly large on the third digits. [22] It walks on its front knuckles similar to gorillas and chimpanzees. This allows the giant anteater to walk without scraping its claws on the ground. The middle digits, which support most of its weight, have long metacarpophalangeal joints and bent interphalangeal joints. [24] Unlike the front feet, the hind feet have short claws on all five toes and walk plantigrade. [6] As a "hook-and-pull" digger, the giant anteater has a large supraspinous fossa which gives the teres major more leverage—increasing the front limbs' pulling power—and the triceps muscle helps control the thickened middle digit. [25]

The giant anteater has a low body temperature for a mammal, about 33 °C (91 °F), a few degrees lower than a typical mammalian temperature of 36 to 38 °C (97 to 100 °F). [19] Xenarthrans in general tend to have lower metabolic rates than most other mammals, a trend thought to correlate with their dietary specializations and low mobility. [26]

Feeding anatomy

Anteater with tongue extended Myrmecophaga tridactyla -Detroit Zoo, Michigan, USA-8a.jpg
Anteater with tongue extended

The giant anteater has no teeth and is capable of very limited jaw movement. It relies on the rotation of the two halves of its lower jaw, held together by a ligament connecting the rami, to open and close its mouth. This is accomplished by its chewing muscles, which are relatively underdeveloped. Jaw depression creates an oral opening large enough for the slender tongue to flick out. [18] [27] It has a length of around 60 cm (24 in) [6] and is more triangular in the back but becomes more rounded towards the front and ends in a rounded tip. [18] [28] The tongue has backward-curving papillae and is extremely moist due to the large salivary glands. [17]

The tongue can only move forwards and backwards due to the tiny mouth and shape of the snout. During feeding, the animal relies on the direction of its head for aim. When fully extended, the tongue reaches 45 cm (18 in), and can move in and out around 160 times per minute (nearly three times per second). [18] A unique sternoglossus muscle, a combination of the sternohyoid and the hyoglossus, anchors the tongue directly to the sternum. [18] [29] [28] [30] The hyoid apparatus is large, V-shaped and flexible, and supports the tongue as it moves. [18] [28] [31] The buccinator muscles loosen and tighten, allowing food in and preventing it from falling out. When retracted, the tongue is held in the oropharynx, preventing it from blocking respiration. [18]

The anteater rubs its tongue against its palate to smash the insects for swallowing. [17] Unlike other mammals, giant anteaters swallow almost constantly when feeding. [18] The giant anteater's stomach, similar to a bird's gizzard, has hardened folds to crush food, assisted by some sand and soil. [20] The giant anteater cannot produce stomach acid of its own, but digests using the formic acid of its prey. [17]

Distribution and status

In the grasslands of Serra da Canastra National Park, Brazil Tamandua-bandeira no Parque Nacional da Serra da Canastra.jpg
In the grasslands of Serra da Canastra National Park, Brazil

The giant anteater is native to Central and South America; its known range stretches from Honduras to Bolivia and northern Argentina, [22] and fossil remains have been found as far north as northwestern Sonora, Mexico. [9] It is largely absent from the Andes [6] and has been fully extirpated in Uruguay, Belize, El Salvador, and Guatemala, as well as in parts of Costa Rica, Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay. [2] The species can live in both tropical rainforests and arid shrublands, [14] provided enough prey is present to sustain it. [32]

The species is listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, due to the number of regional extirpations, [2] and under Appendix II by CITES, tightly restricting international trade in specimens. [3] By 2014, the total population declined more than 30 percent "over the last three generations". [2] In 1994, some 340 giant anteaters died due to wildfires at Emas National Park in Brazil. [33] The animal is particularly vulnerable to fires as its coat can easily catch ablaze and it is too slow to escape. [6]

Human-induced threats include collision with vehicles, attacks by dogs and destruction of habitat. [32] One study of anteater mortality along roads found that they are likely to be struck on linear roads near native plants. [34] A 2018 study in Brazil found that: (1) roads were more likely to be detrimental to anteaters because of habitat fragmentation rather than vehicle accidents, (2) 18–20% of satisfactory anteater habitat did not reach minimum patch size (3) 0.1–1% of its range had dangerously high road density, (4) 32–36% of the anteater's distribution represented critical areas for its survival and (5) more conservation opportunities existed in the north of the country. [35] A 2020 study in the Brazilian cerrado found that road mortality can cut population growth by 50 percent at the local level. [36]

The giant anteater is commonly hunted in Bolivia, both as a trophy and food. The animal's thick, leathery hide is used to make horse-riding equipment in the Chaco. In Venezuela, it is slain for its claws. Giant anteaters are also killed for their perceived danger, particularly during threat displays. The biggest ecological strengths of the species is its wide range and adaptability. The Amazon, Pantanal and the cerrado have various protected areas where the anteater finds refuge. [32] In Argentina, some local governments list it as national heritage species, affording it official protection. [2]

Behaviour and ecology

Sleeping under its tail Myrmecophaga tridactyla 33554995.jpg
Sleeping under its tail

Despite its iconic status, the giant anteater is little studied in the wild and research has been limited to certain areas. [37] The species may use multiple habitats. A 2007 study of giant anteaters in the Brazilian Pantanal found that the animals move and forage in open areas and rest in forest; the latter provide shade when the temperature rises and retain heat when the temperature drops. [38] Anteaters may travel an average of 3,700 m (12,100 ft) per day. [39] Giant anteaters can be either diurnal or nocturnal. A 2006 study in the Pantanal found them to be mostly nocturnal when it is warm, but became more active in daylight hours as the temperature dropped. [40] Diurnal giant anteaters have been observed at Serra da Canastra. [41] Nocturnality in anteaters may be a response to human disturbances. [42]

Giant anteaters prefer dense brush to sleep in, but when it gets cooler, they may use tall grass. When they need to rest, they carve a shallow cavity in the ground. The animal sleeps curled up with its bushy tail over its body; both to keep it warm and camouflage it from predators. One anteater was recorded sleeping flat on its side with the tail unfolded on a 17 °C (63 °F) morning; possibly to allow its body to absorb the sun's rays for warmth. [43] Giant anteaters sometimes enter water to bathe [44] and even swim across wide rivers. [6] They are also able to climb and have been recorded ascending both termite mounds and trees while foraging. One individual was observed attempting to climb a tree by rearing up and grabbing onto a branch above it. [45]

Spacing

Two captive anteaters. The species is generally solitary in the wild. Myrmecophaga tridactyla -Detroit Zoo, USA-8a.jpg
Two captive anteaters. The species is generally solitary in the wild.

Giant anteater home ranges vary in size depending on the location, ranging as small as 2.7 km2 (1.0 sq mi) in Serra da Canastra National Park, Brazil, to as large as 32.5 km2 (12.5 sq mi) in Iberá Natural Reserve, Argentina. [39] Individuals mostly live alone, aside from young who stay with their mothers. [41] Anteaters keep in contact with secretions from their anal glands and tree markings. [38] [46] They appear to be able to recognize each other's saliva by scent. [19]

Females are more tolerant of each other than males are, and thus are more likely to be found closer together. Males are more likely to engage in agonistic behaviors, [41] which start with the combatants approaching and circling each other while uttering a "harrr" noise. This can escalate into chasing and actual fighting. Combat includes wrestling and slashing with the claws. [6] [19] Fighting anteaters may emit roars or bellows. [41] Males are possibly territorial. [19]

Foraging

Foraging Animais serra da canastra tamandua IMG 4625.jpg
Foraging

This animal is an insectivore, feeding mostly on ants or termites. In areas that experience regular flooding, like the Pantanal and the Venezuelan-Colombian Llanos, anteaters mainly feed on ants because termites are less available. [19] Conversely, anteaters at Emas National Park eat mainly termites, which are numerous in the grassland habitat. At Serra da Canastra, during the wet season (October to March) anteaters eat mainly ants, while during the dry season (May to September) they switch to termites. [19]

Anteaters track prey by their scent. [14] After finding a nest, the animal tears it open with its claws and inserts its long, sticky tongue to collect its prey (which includes eggs, larvae and adult insects). [22] [17] An anteater attacks up to 200 nests in one day, for as long as a minute each, and consumes a total of around 35,000 insects. [20] [17] The anteater may be driven away from a nest by the chemical or biting attacks of soldiers. [14] Termites may rely on their fortified mounds for protection or use underground or wide spreading tunnels to escape. [47]

Other prey include the larvae of beetles and western honey bees. Anteaters may target termite mounds with bee hives. [19] Captive anteaters are fed mixtures of milk and eggs as well as mealworms and ground beef. [42] To drink, an anteater may dig for water when none at the surface is available, creating waterholes for other animals. [44]

Tamandua-bandeira com filhote em pastagem.jpg
Myrmecophaga tridactyla 345917023 (cropped).jpg
Mothers carrying offspring on their back

Reproduction and parenting

Giant anteaters mate all year. [19] A male trails an estrous female, who partially raises her tail. Courting pairs are known to share the same insect nest during feeding. [41] Mating involves the female laying sideways and the male hunching over. A couple may stay together for up to three days and mate multiple times during that period. [19] Giant anteater have a 170–190 day gestation period [22] which ends with the birth of a single pup. [20] There is some evidence that the species can experience delayed implantation. [48] Females give birth standing upright. [19]

Pups are born weighing 1–2 kg (2.2–4.4 lb) with eyes closed for the first six days. The mother carries its dependent young on its back. [42] The pup camouflages against its mother by aligning its black and white band with hers. [20] The mother grooms and nurses her young, which communicates with her using sharp whistles. After three months, grooming declines and the young starts to eat more solid food. Both grooming and nursing bouts end at 10 months, which is also when the young leaves its mother. [6] They are sexually mature in 2.5–4 years. [42]

Mortality

Giant anteaters may live around 15 years in the wild, but can live twice that in captivity. [22] The adult giant anteater has few predators. Adults are hunted only by jaguars and pumas, young animals can be attacked by maned wolves and large birds of prey, such as harpy eagles. They typically flee from danger by galloping, but if cornered, will rear up on their hind legs and attack with the claws. [6] [42] [49] The front claws of the giant anteater are formidable weapons, capable of potentially killing a jaguar. [50] The giant anteater is a host of the Acanthocephalan intestinal parasites Gigantorhynchus echinodiscus [51] and Moniliformis monoechinus . [52]

Interactions with humans

Attacks

Although they are usually not a threat to humans, giant anteaters can inflict severe wounds with their front claws. Between 2010 and 2012, two hunters were killed by giant anteaters in Brazil; in both cases, the attacks appeared to be defensive behaviors. [53] In April 2007, an anteater at the Florencio Varela Zoo slashed and killed a zookeeper with its front claws. [54]

In culture

Anteater mask and scratcher used by Kayapo boys in their ceremonies Anteater mask and scratcher used by boys in the Koko ceremony, Kayapo culture, Brazil, c. 1970 - Royal Ontario Museum - DSC09551.JPG
Anteater mask and scratcher used by Kayapo boys in their ceremonies

In the mythology and folklore of the indigenous peoples of the Amazon Basin, the giant anteater is depicted as both a trickster and a comical figure due to its appearance. In one Shipib tale, an anteater stole a jaguar's coat after challenging it to a diving contest and left the jaguar with its own pelt. In a Yarabara myth, the evil ogre Ucara is punished by the sun and turned into an anteater so he will have been unable to speak with his long snout and small mouth. [55] The Kayapo people wear masks of various animals and spirits, including the anteater, during naming and initiation ceremonies. They believe women who touched anteater masks or men who fall while wearing them would die or be disabled. [56]

During the Spanish colonization of the Americas, the giant anteater was among the native fauna taken to Europe for display. It was popularly thought that there were only female anteaters and they reproduced with their noses, a misconception corrected by naturalist Félix de Azara. [57] In the 20th century, Salvador Dalí wrote imaginatively that the giant anteater "reaches sizes bigger than the horse, possesses enormous ferocity, has exceptional muscle power, is a terrifying animal." Dalí depicted an anteater in the style of The Great Masturbator . It was used as a bookplate for André Breton, who compared the temptations a man experiences in life to what "the tongue of the anteater must offer to the ant." [58]

The 1940 Max Fleischer cartoon Ants in the Plants features a colony of ants fighting off a villainous anteater. It may have been a commentary on France's Maginot Line during the Phoney War. [59] An anteater is also a character in the comic strip B.C. This character was the inspiration for Peter the Anteater, the University of California, Irvine team mascot. [60] In the Stephen King miniseries Kingdom Hospital , the character Antubis appears in the form of an anteater-like creature with razor-sharp teeth. [61]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Xenarthra</span> Superorder of mammals including anteaters, sloths, and armadillos

Xenarthra is a major clade of placental mammals native to the Americas. There are 31 living species: the anteaters, tree sloths, and armadillos. Extinct xenarthrans include the glyptodonts, pampatheres and ground sloths. Xenarthrans originated in South America during the late Paleocene about 60 million years ago. They evolved and diversified extensively in South America during the continent's long period of isolation in the early to mid Cenozoic Era. They spread to the Antilles by the early Miocene and, starting about 3 million years ago, spread to Central and North America as part of the Great American Interchange. Nearly all of the formerly abundant megafaunal xenarthrans became extinct at the end of the Pleistocene.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Silky anteater</span> Species of mammals related to sloths and armadillos

The silky anteater, also known as the pygmy anteater, has traditionally been considered a single species of anteater, Cyclopes didactylus, in the genus Cyclopes, the only living genus in the family Cyclopedidae. Found in southern Mexico, and Central and South America, it is the smallest of all known anteaters. It has nocturnal habits and appears to be completely arboreal; its hind feet are highly modified for climbing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern tamandua</span> Species of anteater

The southern tamandua, also called the collared anteater or lesser anteater, is a species of anteater from South America and the island of Trinidad in the Caribbean. It is a solitary animal found in many habitats, from mature to highly disturbed secondary forests and arid savannas. It feeds on ants, termites, and bees. Its very strong foreclaws can be used to break insect nests or to defend itself.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brown four-eyed opossum</span> Species of marsupial

The brown four-eyed opossum is a pouchless marsupial of the family Didelphidae. It is found in different forested habitats of Central and South America, from Nicaragua to Brazil and northern Argentina, including southeastern Colombia, Paraguay and eastern Peru and Bolivia, at elevations from sea level to 1,500 m (4,900 ft). It is the only recognized species in the genus Metachirus, but molecular phylogenetics studies suggest that it should probably be split into several species. Population densities are usually low, and it is uncommon in parts of Central America. A density of 25.6/km2 (66/sq mi) was reported near Manaus, Brazil. Its karyotype has 2n = 14 and FN = 24.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pilosa</span> Order of mammals

The order Pilosa is a clade of xenarthran placental mammals, native to the Americas. It includes anteaters and sloths. The name comes from the Latin word for "hairy".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Myrmecophagidae</span> Family of mammals

The Myrmecophagidae are a family of anteaters, the name being derived from the Ancient Greek words for 'ant' and 'eat'. Two genera and three species are in the family, consisting of the giant anteater, and the tamanduas. The fossil Eurotamandua from the Messel Pit in Germany may be an early anteater, but its status is currently debated.

Archiacanthocephala is a class within the phylum of Acanthocephala. They are parasitic worms that attach themselves to the intestinal wall of terrestrial vertebrates, including humans. They are characterised by the body wall and the lemnisci, which have nuclei that divide without spindle formation, or the appearance of chromosomes, or it has a few amoebae-like giant nuclei. Typically, there are eight separate cement glands in the male, which is one of the few ways to distinguish the dorsal and ventral sides of these organisms.

<i>Eurotamandua</i> Extinct genus of pangolins

Eurotamandua is an extinct genus of mammal from extinct family Eurotamanduidae that lived during the middle Eocene.

<i>Tamandua</i> Genus of anteaters from South America

Tamandua is a genus of anteaters in the Myrmecophagidae family with two species: the southern tamandua and the northern tamandua. They live in forests and grasslands, are semiarboreal, and possess partially prehensile tails. They mainly eat ants and termites, but they occasionally eat bees, beetles, and insect larvae. In captivity, they will eat fruits and meat. They have no teeth and depend on their powerful gizzards to break down their food.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern tamandua</span> Species of mammals related to sloths and armadillos

The northern tamandua is a species of tamandua, an anteater in the family Myrmecophagidae. They live in tropical and subtropical forests from southern Mexico, through Central America, and to the edge of the northern Andes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anteater</span> Mammals known for eating ants and termites

Anteaters are the four extant mammal species in the suborder Vermilingua, commonly known for eating ants and termites. The individual species have other names in English and other languages. Together with sloths, they are within the order Pilosa. The name "anteater" is also commonly applied to the aardvark, numbat, echidnas, and pangolins, although they are not closely related to them.

<i>Catonyx</i> Extinct genus of ground sloths

Catonyx is an extinct genus of ground sloth of the family Scelidotheriidae, endemic to South America during the Pliocene and Pleistocene epochs. It lived from 2.5 Ma to about 10,000 years ago, existing for approximately 2.49 million years. The most recent date obtained is about 9600 B.P.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Giganthorhynchidae</span> Order of thorny-headed worms

Gigantorhynchida is an order containing a single family, Gigantorhynchidae of Acanthocephala that parasitize vertebrates by attaching themselves to the intestinal wall of their host. There are over 60 species classified into three genera in GigantorhynchidaGigantorhynchus, Intraproboscis, and Mediorhynchus.

<i>Gigantorhynchus</i> Genus of parasitic worms

Gigantorhynchus is a genus of Acanthocephala that parasitize marsupials, anteaters, and possibly baboons by attaching themselves to the intestines using their hook-covered proboscis. Their life cycle includes an egg stage found in host feces, a cystacanth (larval) stage in an intermediate host such as termites, and an adult stage where cystacanths mature in the intestines of the host. This genus is characterized by a cylindrical proboscis with a crown of robust hooks at the apex followed by numerous small hooks on the rest of the proboscis, a long body with pseudosegmentation, filiform lemnisci, and ellipsoid testes. The largest known specimen is the female G. ortizi with a length of around 240 millimetres (9.4 in) and a width of 2 millimetres (0.08 in). Genetic analysis on one species of Gigantorhynchus places it with the related genus Mediorhynchus in the family Gigantorhynchidae. Six species in this genus are distributed across Central and South America and possibly Zimbabwe. Infestation by a Gigantorhynchus species may cause partial obstructions of the intestines, severe lesions of the intestinal wall, and may lead to death.

The mammalian order Pilosa, which includes the sloths and anteaters, includes various species from the Caribbean region. Many species of sloths are known from the Greater Antilles, all of which became extinct over the last millennia, but some sloths and anteaters survive on islands closer to the mainland.

<i>Neotamandua</i> Extinct genus of mammals

Neotamandua is an extinct genus of anteaters that lived in the Miocene to Pliocene in South America.

<i>Protamandua</i> Extinct genus of mammals

Protamandua is an extinct genus of anteaters. Its closest living relatives are the giant anteater and tamanduas. Fossils of Protamandua are restricted to the Santa Cruz Formation of Argentina. It may have been a common ancestor of Myrmecophaga and Tamandua.

Amblyomma nodosum is a species of specialized tick, found in three roadkilled giant anteaters from Minas Gerais, Brazil. There are 100 species of Amblyomma worldwide, 33 of which are from Brazil. A. nodosum is a specialist that lives exclusively on the giant anteater and the Southern tamandua.

Neoncicola is a genus of parasitic worms containing nine species and belongs to the family Oligacanthorhynchidae.

References

  1. ↑ Gardner, A. L. (2005). "Order Pilosa". In Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 102. ISBN   978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC   62265494.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Miranda, F.; Bertassoni, A.; Abba, A. M. (2014). "Myrmecophaga tridactyla". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2014: e.T14224A47441961. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2014-1.RLTS.T14224A47441961.en . Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  3. 1 2 "Appendices | CITES". cites.org. Archived from the original on 5 December 2017. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
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