Anteaters are the four mammal species of the suborder Vermilingua commonly known for eating ants and termites. Together with
the sloths, they compose the order Pilosa. The name "anteater" is also colloquially applied to the unrelated aardvark, numbat,
echidna, and pangolin.
The living sloths comprise six species of medium-sized mammals belonging to the families Megalonychidae and Bradypodidae,
part of the order Pilosa. They are arboreal residents of the rainforests of Central and South America. The sloth's taxonomic
suborder is Folivora, while some call it Phyllophaga. Both names mean "leaf-eaters"; the first is derived from Latin, the
second from ancient Greek.
Ground sloths are a diverse group of extinct sloths, in the mammalian superorder Xenarthra. They may have died out as recently
as 1550 AD in Hispaniola and Cuba, but had long since been extinct on the mainland of North and South America. The term "ground
sloth" is used as a reference for all extinct sloths because of the large size of the earliest forms discovered, as opposed
to the extant "tree sloths.
The Giant Anteater, Myrmecophaga tridactyla, is the largest species of anteater. It is found in Central and South America.
It is the only species in the Myrmecophaga genus. It is a solitary animal, found in many habitats, including grasslands, deciduous
forests and rainforests. It feeds mainly on ants and termites, sometimes up to 30,000 insects in a single day.
The three-toed sloths are the only members of the Bradypus genus and the Bradypodidae family. There are four living species
of three-toed sloths. These are the Brown-throated Sloth, the Maned Sloth, the Pale-throated Sloth, and the Pygmy Three-toed
Sloth. Although similar to the somewhat larger and generally faster moving two-toed sloths, the two genera are not particularly
closely related.
Tamandua is a genus of anteaters. It has two members: the Southern Tamandua (Tamandua tetradactyla) and the Northern Tamandua
(Tamandua mexicana). They live in forests and grasslands, are semi-arboreal, and possess partially prehensile tails. They
mainly eat ants and termites, but they occasionally eat bees. In captivity, they will eat fruits and meat. They have no teeth
and depend on their powerful gizzard to break down their food.
