The world's smallest anteater isn't afraid to put up a fight
The world’s smallest anteater isn’t afraid to put up a fight. When threatened, the silky anteater anchors its tail to a branch, raises its claws to its face like a boxer, and strikes. Yet with an average weight of less than a pound, its best chance for survival is to remain undetected.
Silky Anteater
Cyclopes didactylus
RANGE Southern Mexico to Brazil
SIZE 12"–17" long
DIET Ants—as many as 5,000 a day
HABITAT Rain forest
THREATS Loss of habitat due to deforestation
- CLAWS Large, curved claws on each front foot enable the animal to climb trees and rip open ant nests.
- TAIL The anteater’s tail is longer than its body; it’s also prehensile, meaning it can hold on to things.
- TONGUE Its sticky, spaghetti noodle-like tongue is designed to slurp up ants. And like all anteaters, the silky lacks teeth.
- NOSE A supersensitive, pink-tipped proboscis sniffs out food.
- COAT Thanks to its soft fur, the anteater resembles the seedpods of the silk-cotton tree when it curls into a ball—helping it avoid detection by predators like the harpy eagle.
© PETE OXFORD/NATUREPL.COM
Tree topper
The silky anteater is nocturnal and arboreal: It lives its life in the treetops, almost never descending to the ground. Seldom seen, it is the world’s least-studied anteater.
7+
Scientists once thought all silky anteaters were a single species but now believe there are seven or more distinct species. Differences in fur color tipped them off; researchers confirmed the theory using DNA samples from live anteaters and by studying museum specimens.
© Bernard De Wetter / WWF
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