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A giant anteater with a long snout and bushy tail sniffing the ground.
Photo: Malene Thyssen, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Giant Anteater

Myrmecophaga tridactyla

A toothless insect-eater of Central and South America that flicks its 2-foot tongue up to 150 times a minute.

🦥 Sloths and Anteaters
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About the Giant Anteater

Giant anteaters live in wetlands, grasslands and tropical forests of Central and South America. They use sharp front claws to rip open ant and termite nests, then flick their 2-foot tongue in and out up to 150 times a minute. An anteater eats only about 140 insects from each mound before moving on. To protect its claws, it walks on its front knuckles.[1]

Quick facts

Scientific name
Myrmecophaga tridactyla[1]
Size
6 to 8 feet (1.8 to 2.4 m) long, including the tail.[1]
Weight
60 to 100 pounds (27 to 45 kg).[1]
Lifespan
Up to 26 years in human care.[1]
Diet
Insectivore. Ants and termites.[1]
Habitat
Wetlands, grasslands and tropical forests.[1]
Where it lives
Central and South America.[1]
Group life
Solitary, except during mating or when a mother is caring for her baby.[1]
Babies
Pregnancy lasts about 180 days. One baby rides on its mother's back for up to a year.[1]
Conservation status
Vulnerable (IUCN Red List, assessed 2013).[2]

Fun facts

  • A giant anteater's tongue is about 2 feet long and can flick in and out up to 150 times a minute.[1]
  • Giant anteaters have no teeth.[1]
  • Anteaters walk on their front knuckles to protect their sharp claws.[1]
  • An anteater can identify the kind of ant or termite in a nest by smell before opening it.[1]

Vocabulary

insectivore
An animal that eats mostly insects.
termite
A small insect that lives in large colonies and eats wood.
mound
A hill of dirt built by insects such as termites.
knuckle
A joint where a finger bends.
vulnerable
A conservation label meaning a species faces a high risk of dying out in the wild.

See it in person

Sources

  1. [1] Smithsonian's National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute. “Giant anteater.” https://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/giant-anteater (accessed 2026-10-02)
  2. [2] IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. “Myrmecophaga tridactyla (Giant Anteater).” https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/14224/47441961 (accessed 2026-10-02)

Facts last checked 2026-10-02.

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