Giant anteater
Myrmecophaga tridactyla Linnaeus, 1758
The giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) is a mammal in the family Myrmecophagidae, suborder Vermilingua and order Pilosa. It is a medium-sized, terrestrial, cathemeral invertivore with an adult body mass of 22.33 kg and up to 29.53 kg.
Quick facts about the giant anteater
Gestation lasts 184 days, ranging from 170 to 190 days, and a litter has 1 young, with up to 2 reported. The IUCN Red List classifies the giant anteater as Vulnerable (VU), a threatened category, and its lifespan is 26 years, with up to 33 years reported.
- Weight
- 22.3 kg – 29.5 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 26 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Invertivoresrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 33 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- grasslandsrc for Habitat
- Gestation
- 170 days – 190 dayssrc for Gestation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 1 – 2src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 3.25 yearssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1.17src for Litters or clutches a year
- Active
- Day and night (cathemeral)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Vulnerable (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Photos of the giant anteater
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
Where does the giant anteater live?
Not recorded
What is the giant anteater?
The giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) is a large insectivorous mammal native to Central and South America. It is the largest of the four living species of anteaters, which are classified with sloths in the order Pilosa. The only extant member of the genus Myrmecophaga, the giant anteater is mostly terrestrial, in contrast to other living anteaters and sloths, which are arboreal or semiarboreal. It is recognizable by its elongated snout, bushy tail, long foreclaws, and distinctively colored fur.
The giant anteater is found in multiple habitats, including grassland and rainforest. It forages in open areas and rests in more forested habitats. It feeds primarily on ants and termites, using its foreclaws to dig them up and its long, sticky tongue to collect them. Though giant anteaters live in overlapping home ranges, they are mostly solitary except during mother-offspring relationships, aggressive interactions between males, and when mating. Mother anteaters carry their offspring on their backs until weaning them.
The giant anteater is listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. It has been extirpated from many parts of its former range. Threats to its survival include habitat destruction, fire, and poaching for fur and bushmeat, although some anteaters inhabit protected areas. With its distinctive appearance and habits, the anteater has been featured in pre-Columbian cultural narratives.
From the Wikipedia article “Giant anteater” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Giant_anteater&oldid=1384174722), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the giant anteater endangered?
The giant anteater is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List: it faces a high risk of extinction in the wild.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Vulnerable species. What the categories mean.
How is the giant anteater classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderPilosa
- familyMyrmecophagidae
- genusMyrmecophaga
- SpeciesMyrmecophaga tridactyla Linnaeus, 1758
Synonyms Falcifer jubata, Myrmecopha didactyla, Myrmecophaga tridactyla artata, Myrmecophaga tridactyla centralis, Myrmecophaga trydactyla, Tamandua tridactyla, Tamandua tridactyla
Other names and names in other languages (63)
- Giant VermilinguaEnglish
- ReusemiervreterAfrikaans
- دب النملArabic
- النامل الأكبرArabic
- نامل أكبرArabic
- آكل النمل الكبيرArabic
- Onso fornigueroAragonese
- Böyük qarışqayeyənAzerbaijani
- Гіганцкі мурашкаедBelarusian
- Голям мравоядBulgarian
- Merienaer meurBreton
- Veliki mravojedBosnian
- Ós formiguerCatalan
- mravenečník velkýCzech
- Stor myreslugerDanish
- YurumiGerman
- Großer AmeisenbärGerman
- Γιγάντιος ΜυρμηγκοφάγοςGreek
- Oso pajizoSpanish
- AsaiSpanish
- Hormiguero GiganteSpanish
- Oso banderaSpanish
- Oso CaballoSpanish
- Oso caballunoSpanish
- Oso hormigueroSpanish
- Oso hormiguero giganteSpanish
- Oso PalmeroSpanish
- Hartz inurrijaleBasque
- jurumiFinnish
- IsomuurahaiskarhuFinnish
- TamanoirFrench
- Fourmilier GéantFrench
- Grand FourmilierFrench
- Grand TamanoirFrench
- YurumíGuarani
- דוב נמלים ענקHebrew
- Divovski mravojedCroatian
- sörényes hangyászHungarian
- Formichiere giganteItalian
- オオアリクイJapanese
- 큰개미핥기Korean
- Didžioji skruzdėdaLithuanian
- Џиновски мравојадMacedonian
- Wóláchííʼ yildeełítsohNavajo
- KjempemaurslukerNorwegian Bokmål
- ReuzenmiereneterDutch
- mrówkojad wielkiPolish
- Tamanduá-açuPortuguese
- Tamanduá BandeiraPortuguese
- Tamanduá-bandeiraPortuguese
- Tamanduá-guaçuPortuguese
- Kuchi pillanQuechua
- Гигантский муравьедRussian
- veliki mravljinčarSlovenian
- Џиновски мравоједSerbian
- Tamanwasrm
- tamanuwaSranan Tongo
- jättemyrslokSwedish
- Mhanga MkubwaSwahili
- ตัวกินมดยักษ์Thai
- Dev KarıncayiyenTurkish
- Мурахоїд велетенськийUkrainian
- 大食蟻獸Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataIUCN Red List
Relatives of the giant anteater
Other species in the same family Myrmecophagidae.
Southern tamandua
Tamandua tetradactyla
Northern tamandua
Tamandua mexicana
CompareGiant anteater vs Southern tamanduaGiant anteater vs Northern tamanduaGiant anteater vs Neotamandua conspicua
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the giant anteater?
The giant anteater is a mammal in the family Myrmecophagidae, part of the suborder Vermilingua in the order Pilosa.
How heavy is a giant anteater?
An adult giant anteater has a body mass of 22.33 kg, with up to 29.53 kg reported.
What does the giant anteater eat?
The giant anteater is an invertivore, and its trophic level is carnivore.
Is the giant anteater endangered?
The giant anteater is listed as Vulnerable (VU) on the IUCN Red List, which is a threatened category.
How long does a giant anteater live?
The giant anteater has a lifespan of 26 years, with up to 33 years reported.
How many young does a giant anteater have?
A giant anteater has 1 young per litter, with up to 2 reported, and 1.17 litters per year.
How long is the giant anteater's gestation period?
Gestation lasts 184 days, with reported values from 170 to 190 days.
Who named the giant anteater?
The giant anteater, Myrmecophaga tridactyla, was named by Linnaeus, 1758.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/giant-anteater
“Giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/giant-anteater.
@misc{giant_anteater_2026,
title = {Giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/giant-anteater},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}