Southern Tamandua

The southern tamandua, also called the collared anteater, is a medium-sized anteater found in Trinidad and across South America from Venezuela to northern Argentina, southern Brazil and Uruguay. It lives in wet and dry forests, savanna and thorn scrub, and is most common near streams and rivers. Mainly nocturnal and solitary, it feeds on ants, termites and bees, breaking into their nests with strong foreclaws, and its long snout opens only as wide as a stick. It forages much of the time in trees, aided by a prehensile tail with a hairless underside, but is clumsy on the ground.

About the southern tamandua

The southern tamandua, also called the collared anteater or lesser anteater, is a solitary anteater native to South America and the island of Trinidad. It turns up in a wide range of habitats, from mature forest to heavily disturbed secondary forest and arid savanna, and it lives at elevations up to 1,600 m (5,200 ft). Genetic evidence suggests it diverged from its much larger relative, the giant anteater, roughly 12.9 million years ago, though the oldest tamandua fossils date only to the Pleistocene. Four subspecies are currently recognized, ranging from southern and eastern Brazil and Uruguay in the case of the nominate form to Peru, Ecuador and far western Brazil for another.

Coloring varies considerably by region and is part of what has made the species tricky to classify. Animals from the southeastern part of the range are "strongly vested," carrying black markings that widen near the shoulders and encircle the forelimbs, with the rest of the body blonde, tan or brown. Populations from northern Brazil and Venezuela west of the Andes tend to be solid blonde, brown or black, or only lightly marked, while tamanduas from Trinidad are almost always solid blonde.

Physically, the tamandua has four clawed digits on its forefeet and five on its hind feet, and it walks on the outer edges of its forefeet to keep its sharp claws from puncturing its own palms. The underside and tip of its prehensile tail are hairless, which helps it grip branches while climbing. Its long, downward-curving snout has an opening only as wide as a stick, through which it extends its tongue to feed. Compared to the closely related northern tamandua, it can be told apart mainly by slightly longer ears, averaging around 5 cm (2.0 in) versus 4 cm (1.6 in).

Behavior and diet

The southern tamandua is mainly nocturnal, though it's occasionally active by day, and it dens in hollow tree trunks or in burrows abandoned by other animals, including armadillos. It's a solitary species with a home range that averages 100 to 375 ha (250 to 930 acres) depending on local conditions. When aggravated, it hisses and releases an unpleasant scent from its anal glands. A study across several habitats in Venezuela found it spends anywhere from 13 to 64 percent of its time foraging up in trees, and on the ground it's notably clumsy — unlike the giant anteater, it can't break into a gallop.

For defense, the tamandua relies on its powerful forearms and long, curved claws. Threatened in a tree, it grips a branch with its hindfeet and tail so its arms are free to fight; on the ground, it backs against a rock or tree trunk and grabs at an attacker with its forelimbs. It has small eyes and poor vision, so its large, upright ears do most of the work of keeping it aware of its surroundings, and in rainforest habitat it's often trailed by a cloud of flies and mosquitoes it has to wipe from its eyes.

Diet is split roughly evenly between ants and termites, supplemented by a small amount of fruit and by beetle larvae. Tamanduas locate food by scent and take a wide range of species, including army ants, carpenter ants and Nasutitermes termites, but avoid ants and beetles with strong chemical defenses, such as leafcutter ants. Its extremely strong forelimbs tear open nests, and its elongated snout and rounded tongue — up to 40 cm (16 in) long, with papillae specialized for gathering insects — do the rest. The two are able to live alongside one another, perhaps because the tamandua can reach nests in trees that giant anteaters can't access, and tends to take ants that forage on vegetation as well as in the soil, while giant anteaters look for ants that gather food only in the soil. Potential predators include the maned wolf, cougars, jaguars, ocelots, harpy eagles, crested eagles and boa constrictors.

Reproduction follows a seasonal pattern: females are polyestrous, mating generally in the fall, with an estrous cycle lasting about 42 days and gestation running 130 to 190 days. A single offspring is born each year; its coat can range from white to black at birth, unlike either parent, and it rides on its mother's back for months at a time, sometimes left on a safe branch while she forages.

Range and habitat

Southern tamanduas are found in Trinidad and across South America, from Venezuela through to northern Argentina, southern Brazil and Uruguay, at elevations up to 1,600 m. They occupy both wet and dry forest types — tropical rainforest, savanna, and thorn scrub — and appear to be most common near streams and rivers, particularly where vegetation is thick with vines and epiphytes, likely because their insect prey concentrates there.

Conservation status

The southern tamandua is classified as Least Concern (LC), but it still faces meaningful pressures across its range. Wildfires and habitat loss are named threats, and hunters have targeted the species for the tendons in its tail, which are used to make rope. At the same time, some Indigenous communities value the tamandua for pest control, bringing individuals into their homes specifically to manage termite and ant populations.