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🧬 Biological Classification (Kingdom to Species)Tamandua tetradactyla

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Mammalia

Order

Pilosa

Family

Myrmecophagidae

Genus

Tamandua

Species

Tamandua tetradactyla

Mammalia🥩 Carnivore

Southern Tamandua

Tamandua tetradactyla (Southern Tamandua · ミナミコアリクイ)

🛡️ Conservation Status (IUCN Red List)LC (Least Concern)

DDData Deficient

LCLeast Concern

NTNear Threatened

VUVulnerable

ENEndangered

CRCritically End.

EWExtinct in Wild

EXExtinct

Geological Era

Extant

Diet

Carnivore

Length · Height

53.5~88cm · No data

Mass · Top Speed

4.5kg · No data

Habitat & Fossil Locality

Forests, tropical rainforests, savannas, thorn scrub, and mangroves of South America, especially along streams and rivers

💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed

💡 Its average weight of 4.5 kg equals three 1.5 L bottles of water, and its tongue of up to 40 cm is longer than a 30 cm ruler (Comparison).
💡 Indigenous Amazonian peoples have used it to clear ants and termites from their homes and made rope from its tail tendons.
💡 At the Smithsonian's National Zoo, it is raised on insects and an insectivore diet mash.

Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.

📊 Mass & Speed Index (0–100)

⚖️ Mass Index (Blue Whale ~190 t = 100, log scale)44

Site-computed relative index from recorded values; not a formal scientific metric.

#남부작은개미핥기#Tamandua tetradactyla

📖 1. Overview

The Southern Tamandua is a widespread South American anteater active both in trees and on the ground. Coat color varies by region, with some populations bearing a dark vest marking from shoulders to back.

🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology

Its fur is short and dense, and the hairless underside of its tail grips branches securely. Toothless, it grinds food in a muscular gizzard-like stomach, and through a mouth opening only about 6 mm wide it can extend its tongue up to 40 cm.

🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior

Locating tree-dwelling ants and termites by scent, it rips open nests with its forelimbs and laps them up with its tongue, and also eats honey and bees. Mostly nocturnal and solitary, it rests in tree hollows by day and gives birth to a single young that rides on its mother's back.