2. 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
Cyclopes
Giant Anteater
Genus
Tamandua
Northern
Tamandua
Southern
Tamandua
3. 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
4. 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.
5. 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)
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. 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.
11. 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.
12. 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.
