Southern Tamandua
Tamandua tetradactyla
Description
Southern tamanduas are pale yellow and look like they are wearing a black vest around the shoulders, chest, sides, and lower back. They weigh 6.5 to 15 pounds (three to seven kilograms), and their bodies are 18.5 to 30 inches (470 to 770 millimeters) long, with a tail nearly as long as the body. The tamandua's tail is prehensile, like the prehensile-tailed porcupine and the black howler monkey. A prehensile tail serves as another arm, allowing the animal to grasp branches with it. The tamandua has a long snout, though not as long as that of the giant anteater.
Home
Range
South America east of the Andes and south to southern Brazil, northern Argentina and Uruguay.
Habitat
Wide variety of habitats, from dry forest and tropical rainforest to savannah and thorn scrub. Tamanduas are more common near streams and rivers, especially those with many vines.
Diet
Tamanduas use their rounded tongues to lick up ants and termites.
Zoo Diet
Meat-based gruel
Reproduction
One young
Fun Fact
Tamanduas are in the magnorder Xenarthra, which includes armadillos, sloth, and anteaters. Formerly referred to as edentates, which means toothless, these animals have primitive teeth without incisors or canines, special joints in their backbones, and relatively small brains for mammals.
Please note: There are no tamanduas at the Zoo.
