![]() ![]() The tongue of an anteater starts at the breastbone and can extend up to two feet long. Thankfully they have ridiculous tongues which makes the whole process much easier. If you have ever accidentally disturbed an ants nest you will know how unpleasant they can be when aggravated! To avoid this painful situation, an anteater has to act quickly. ![]() Just look at that face!Įating insects can be complicated. The two types of sloth that we see today are also fantastic examples of this – they separated off from each other approximately 30 million years ago and acquired their upside down arboreal lives independently.īefore we talk about the different types of anteater (yes, there are 4 very different species), lets take a moment to appreciate how wonderfully weird these animals are. However, we now know that these species developed their matching features through a fascinating phenomenon called “convergent evolution”.Ĭonvergent evolution is a process where two very different species develop similar traits. Scientists originally thought that these different species of ant-eating animals were all directly related because of their similarities: the diet, long tongues, very few teeth, powerful forearms, and tube-like snouts. The obvious definition would be an animal that eats ants (and termites) – but this would actually apply to all kinds of unrelated animals (such as the aardvark, numbat, echidna and pangolin) Long snouts are useful for insect eaters! Did you know that these giant sloths are the reason why we have avocados today? We will dive into the xenarthran family history in more detail in a future post, but for today we want to focus on the sloths closest relative: the anteaters! The very name ‘xenarthrans’ literally translates in Greek as “strange joints” and it’s members all share unique articulations in the lower spine.Īmong the most famous and ancient of all xenarthrans is probably the Megatherium – an extinct type of Giant Ground Sloth that grew to over 25 feet tall! The first fossils of this animal were originally found by Charles Darwin near Patagonia, Argentina. In fact, it is thought that this family is one of the oldest groups of mammals left alive today and it includes our beloved sloths as well as anteaters and armadillos. What exactly is a sloth? Are they related to bears? Monkeys? Marsupials? No! Sloths are actually part of a super ancient (and super strange) family of mammals called the xenarthrans ( pronounced zen-ar-thrans). Anteaters: The Sloth’s Closest Relative! The Xenarthra family
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