Mammal Diversity Project

Tom Kobelev

Introduction

Vermilingua (meaning worm tongue) is a

suborder of species consisting of Ant

Eaters.

There are 4 different species of Ant Eaters

Sub Order Vermilingua

Family Cyclopedidae

Genus Myrmecophaga

Silky Anteater

Family Myrmecophagidae

Genus

CyclopesGiant Anteater

Genus

Tamandua

Northern Tamandua

Southern Tamandua

Feeding and Food Web Anteaters eat the obvious,

ants. But they also eat termites and other small soft-body insects and insects that lack chemical defense systems.

Therefore anteaters hunt mostly in areas like ant/termite hills, dead trees, and dried soil areas.

•Anteaters have sharp claws to rip up ant hills and dead or

rotting wood. Another attribute is they don't have teeth. so they

have a very strong stomach for digestion.

•Anteaters are edentate meaning they have no teeth but its

made up for, with its long tongue that lap up around 30,000

ants a day

The primary food chain involving anteaters is plants are

eaten by Ants/Termites which are hunted by Anteaters

which are preyed on by Lions/Cougars. Making the

Anteater a Secondary Consumer.

The different species of Anteaters live in different

locations and don't compete with each other. The

Anteaters generally only compete with Birds, one of the

biggest competitors being the Oropendulas. In terms of

mammals the Anteater mainly competes with different

Sloth species, only when they hunt in the trees.

Habitat Most wild Anteaters live in grasslands,

deciduous forests, and rainforests.

Commonly found in South & Central America, and some species of Anteater are found in parts of Africa (Western & Northern mostly)

If Primary Succession were to occur in a Rainforest which is

where most Anteaters live, this would most likely be by

flooding and would strip off the layer of top soil the Anteater

and most animals would die, mainly because they don't have

a very strong defence system so the impact alone would

most likely kill them.

In Secondary Succession if Farmers were to clear the land of

all plants and trees the Anteaters wouldn’t have a place to

sleep and would no longer have any hunting grounds. So

Anteaters along with most wild life would have to relocate or

else they would not survive.

Adaptive Radiation The Anteater has evolved and adapted to its

environment dependant on its location the Silky

Anteater has developed a very strong tail aiding

it in movement in and about trees. However the

Giant Anteater has developed large sharp claws

to fend of big cats and other predators when

threatened.

Adaptations

Anteaters have an acute sense of smell which helps them to locate anthills and even allows them to tell what type of ant is inside it. The wet, black nose is on the end of the anteater's lengthy, pointed snout. The position of the nose is useful for locating food and it also helps the anteater to hold its nose above the surface of the water while swimming.

The anteater's mouth is narrow, tubular and toothless. This mouth allows its long, thin tongue to flick in and out quickly and effectively. Anteaters have special stomachs that grind up ants with powerful muscles and dissolve them in heavy acids. The anteater's specialized stomach removes the purpose teeth to break down its food and allows great amounts of food to be consumed by swallowing it whole without chewing.

The anteater has an extremely long tongue that can reach distances of up to 2 feet beyond the end of its snout. Anteater tongues are covered in tiny barbs and thick, sticky saliva. The barbs and saliva help the anteater to collect as many ants as possible on its tongue.

Biodiversity & Evolution

Before, Anteaters were assumed to be related to Aardvarks and Pangolins because of their physical similarities to those animals, but these similarities have since been determined to be a sign of convergent evolution not of common ancestry.

Some say anteaters might be very closely related to sloths due to physical similarities and similar behaviour but that theory is yet to be proven.

The Anteater is part of the order Edentates which diverged from insectivores a long time ago during the Cretaceous (135 million years ago) in South America and were greatly diversified already by the end of the end of the Age of Dinosaurs which was (beginning of Age of Mammals) approximately 60 million years ago. The Myrmecophagidae family is known only back to the early Miocene (25 million years ago) in South America, though the fossil record is poor so the group may go back even further.

Works Cited

Ames, Hayley. "Five Physical Adaptations for Anteaters." EHow. Demand Media, 02 Aug. 2011. Web. 15 Mar. 2014.

"ANTEATERS." Natural History Collections:. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Mar. 2014.

"Birds." Birds. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Mar. 2014.

"Giant Anteater." National Geographic. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2014.

"The Online Anteater: Giant Anteater Information, Pictures, Links, and More!" The Online Anteater: Giant Anteater Information, Pictures, Links, and More! N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Mar. 2014.

"Tropical Rainforest Biome." : Primary and Secondary Succession. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Mar. 2014.