We are also expert anteaters. We often see anteaters in zoos, but we rarely see pangolins. This is not only because pangolins live in burrows and are good at escaping, but also because they only eat fresh food. Ants (including termites, but termites are close relatives of cockroaches, not ants).
However, compared to pangolins, anteaters have a larger appetite. They can eat up to 30,000 termites and ants in a day. So how do anteaters raised in zoos provide food? Let’s take a look at this interesting question.
Anteater is a collective name for four species of animals under the order Pygmyanthaidae and Myrmididae. Among them, the pygmy anteater is the smallest of the four anteaters, with an average body length of only 40 cm. About centimeters, and usually weighing no more than 400 grams, they mainly feed on ants and various rotten fruits. There is currently some controversy about the classification of pygmy anteaters, because previously scientists believed that there was only one kind, and the others were all subspecies. , and current genetic research has found that there are large genetic differences between different subspecies, so some scientists advocate dividing dwarf anteaters into seven species.
The other three anteaters are all under the family Myrmididae. They are the Giant Anteater, the Central American Anteater and the Lesser Anteater. These three kinds of anteaters are The anteater is more in line with our objective impression of the anteater, with its long mouth, slender body, fluffy and large tail, which is very different from the dwarf anteater.
In addition to appearance, anteaters are also very different from dwarf anteaters in terms of feeding habits. The main food of the three kinds of anteaters is various ants and termites, and other foods are at most occasional. Eat honey, of course, the eating habits of any kind of anteater are gradually formed because they have no teeth and cannot chew food.
Among the anteaters, the giant anteater is the largest. The average length of the giant anteater is about 2 meters and the average weight is 35 kilograms. At the beginning, we said that the anteater can eat 30,000 termites and ants a day. In fact, we are talking about the giant anteater. Other eaters The food intake of anteaters is relatively small. For example, small anteaters usually only need a few hundred ants a day, and no matter what kind of anteater they are, they can go several days without eating after one meal. This is consistent with their body temperature. The lower temperature (33°C) has a lot to do with the slower metabolic rate.
The reason why giant anteaters can eat tens of thousands of ants a day is due to their unique body structure. First of all, the visual ability of giant anteaters is very poor, but their sense of smell is 40 times that of humans, which can help them accurately find the location of ant nests. Secondly, the forelimbs of giant anteaters have sharp edges except for the fifth toe. Their hook claws are a powerful tool for digging the ant nest; finally, after digging the ant nest, their slender mouth can get close to the passage inside the ant nest, and at the same time, they can use a slippery and slender tongue to high-frequency It stretches and contracts in the passage of the ant nest and sticks the ants and termites inside to the tongue.
Finally, although anteaters kill all ants, termites account for the largest proportion in their diet, and termites are extremely destructive insects, especially in forest areas, so Anteaters are a beneficial animal to us humans.