Description
The giant anteater can be identified by its large size, elongated muzzle and long tail. It has a total body length of 182–217 cm (5.97–7.12 ft). Males weigh 33–41 kg (73–90 lb) and females weigh 27–39 kg (60–86 lb), making the giant anteater the largest extant species in its suborder. The head of the giant anteater, at 30 cm (12 in) long, is particularly elongated, even when compared to other anteaters. Its tubular snout, which ends in its tiny mouth opening and nostrils, takes up most of its head. Its eyes and ears are relatively small. It has poor eyesight, but its sense of smell is 40 times greater than that of humans. Giant anteaters can live around 16 years in captivity.
Unlike other mammals, anteater necks, especially the giant's, are thicker than the backs of their heads. A small hump can be found at the back of its neck. The giant anteater's coat is mostly grey and salted with white. Its forelimbs are white, with black bands around the wrists, while its hind limbs are dark. Thick black bands with white outlines stretch from throat to shoulder, where they end in triangular points. The body ends in a brown tail. The coat hairs are long, especially on the tail, which makes the tail look larger than it actually is. A stiff mane stretches along its back. The giant anteater has a low body temperature for a mammal, being 33 °C (91 °F), a few degrees lower than typical mammalian temperature of 36–38 °C (97–100 °F). While adult males are slightly larger and more muscular than females; with wider heads and necks, visual sex determination can be difficult. The (retracted) penis and testes are located internally between the rectum and urinary bladder in males, and females have a single pair of mammary glands near the armpits.
The giant anteater has broad ribs. Despite its specific name, it has five toes on each foot. Four toes on the front feet have claws, which are particularly elongated on the second and third digits. The giant anteater walks on its front knuckles, similar to the African apes, specifically gorillas and chimpanzees. Doing this allows the anteater to keep its claws out of the way while walking. The middle digits, which support most of its weight, are extended at the metacarpophalangeal joints and bent at the interphalangeal joints. Unlike the front feet, the hind feet have short claws on all five toes and walk plantigrade. As a "hook-and-pull" digger, the anteater's enlarged supraspinous fossa gives the teres major more leverage—increasing the front limbs' pulling power—and the triceps muscle helps power the flexion of the thickened third digit of the front feet.
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