Talk:Anteater

More pictures

Hi all. How do I upload more pictures of this animal? I have 4 pictures that I took of an anteater crossing the road in Paraguay - Chaco. These animals are very common there. It's funny because they are not afraid of cars or men, and they just cross the roads stopping traffic like nothing. Not that there's a lot of traffic either... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 190.52.153.198 (talk) 02:47, 8 September 2007 (UTC)

Umm.., I'm not really sure but I personally would go back to the main page and look at the bottom for the Wiki - sister projects, and find Wikipedia Commons. Then I'd go there and sign in or create a new user over at that Wiki. Then I think they explain to you exactly what you have to do to upload a picture. Read the disclaimers, anything you put up there you lose any rights to forever or something, I donno. Then if you figure out how to do it come back here and load us up!

I hope this helps! WE NEED GOOD ANTEATER PICS! ASK AGAIN IF YOU HAVE PROBLEMS! Chrisrus (talk) 05:04, 15 September 2009 (UTC)

Why with the dead anteater? What a bummer. Replace it with a live picture unless a corpse photo in particular is more illustrative for some reason. 134.173.64.24 (talk) 17:08, 31 March 2012 (UTC)

Numbat Population

Prior to my most recent edit, the section "Similar Animals" included the following text:

• The Numbat (Myrmecobius fasciatus), a marsupial, formerly called the Banded Anteater. This species is very endangered. There only about 3 left in the world

While I'm not an expert on the actual Numbat population, I could find no other source that supported such a small population, and in fact Wikipedia's own Numbat article does not make this claim. Consequently, I have removed the reference to "only about 3". If you replace this in the article, please add a citation to go with it. 168.12.253.82 14:24, 5 June 2006 (UTC)

No animal can have only three in the world, even the most endangered have at least 100 in the wild!163.21.216.253 06:35, 12 June 2006 (UTC)

That's not true. There was for instance onely one Spix's Macaw left in the wild. Being endangered means you have a high risk to get extinct, and animals are dying out as we speak. And to remind you: for a species to get extinct you have to have less than 100 individuals for at least a small period of time. It's quite unusual for a population to drop from 100 to 0 in a second.

By the way, the numbat is quite rare, but not that rare. Probably the writer of the text meant that there are only about 3 populations left in the world. The Claw 10:16, 24 August 2006 (UTC)

OK, I frogot about the Spix's macaw, but it's still true that numbats aren't THAT rare! Dora Nichov 09:32, 26 August 2006 (UTC)

Or, there was Lonesome George. The only remaining turtle of his subspecies, until he died. 40 years as the only one in captivity, and none in the wild.

~ender 2013-06-26 11:45:AM MST

By the Number

That "30000 ants a day"? I've seen as high as 75000. Can somebody confirm? Or make it a range? Also, I've seen (somewhere...) they actually feed more in trees than on the ground... Trekphiler 20:38 & 20:45, 16 October 2006 (UTC)

Well, stupid anteaters are 100% terrestrial, but tamanduas and silky anteaters definitely spend more time in trees. In fact, the silky anteater almost never reaches the ground. Dora Nichov 09:51, 5 November 2006 (UTC)

Excuse me? What kind of anteaters are terrestrial? Chrisrus (talk) 15:22, 13 September 2009 (UTC)

egg laying?

is it egg laying? it was not mentioned in the article. Jackzhp (talk) 17:26, 22 December 2007 (UTC)

it's a mammal Rares (talk) 15:29, 16 March 2008 (UTC)

Order is Edentata, not Pilosa

Or, to be more clear, Pilosa are new-world anteaters, and are placental mammals.

Neither of which are monotremes (as far as I can gather).

~ender 2013-06-26 11:48:AM MST

Why!?

Why is the article so short on this legendary creature?! --80.45.58.14 (talk) 09:16, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

Ant Bear

Excuse me, but isn't it Myrmecophaga tridactyla, not the aardvark, which is most commonly called "Ant Bear"? Chrisrus (talk) 15:29, 13 September 2009 (UTC)

Reproduction Questions

What happens to the other males, if reproduction is Polygynous? Forced out? Killed by their rivals? Doing more dangerous stuff?

And can someone explain 'carrying', if the mothers can't grasp their offspring. Does this mean pouched babies (if so, until when?)?
~ender 2013-06-26 11:51:AM MST

At a guess, polygynous breeding is due to a large excess of females over males ... and carry appears to be beeing used as a synoymn for "gestate" in this case. 62.196.17.197 (talk) 13:37, 17 January 2014 (UTC)

Giant, Fanged Maw

What exactly is a 'giant, fanged maw' that is made reference to at the end of the article? My impression is that a 'maw' is something like a formidable mouth. 70.171.44.124 (talk) 10:01, 12 November 2013 (UTC)BGRIFFIN

You are correct. It is a dumbed-down cartoon creature. For my part that is unencyclopedic and trivial, and I would certainly support its removal. JonRichfield (talk) 18:41, 12 November 2013 (UTC)

they need to eat from 200 anthills an hour?

that seems too speedy? (one every 18 seconds?) Can someone confirm this? thanks — Preceding unsigned comment added by Adloquitur (talk • contribs) 21:29, 18 June 2018 (UTC)

@Adloquitur The article mentions giant anteaters usually forage from around 200 nests PER DAY, no per hour, still

, that's quite a lot of ants. 2A02:C7C:E35C:6A00:4B76:2E2:A77A:E447 (talk) 01:54, 7 September 2023 (UTC)

edit request

Anteater#Reproduction says Polygynous mating usually results in a single offspring, implying that a male will mate with multiple females, but usually only one of the females conceives. This seems implausible. Please rephrase. Maybe Anteaters are polygynous, and each successful mating usually results in a single offspring

Wishing you safe, happy, productive editing. --173.67.42.107 (talk) 23:22, 4 February 2025 (UTC)

Etymology Wrong Link - Edit Request?

Under the etymology section Anteater#Etymology, the hyperlink labelled "Tupi" links to the page for Tupí, the Pyrenees cheese [Tupí], rather than the Tupi Language of Brazil. [Tupi language] VirgilMalacoda (talk) 03:36, 6 February 2025 (UTC)

Silky Anteater Species Count

OI THERES 7 SILKY ANTEATERS NOW NOT JUST 1 SO THIS PAGE IS SPREADING FALSE GOSPEL ABOUT OUR LORD AND SAVIORS THE ANTEATERS

GUYS WE GOTTA UPDATE THE NUMBER TO REFLECT RECENT TAXONOMICAL DISCOVERIES!!! GUYSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!

The number "four" gotta become "ten" and the silky anteaters gotta get pluralized and such. I'd do this myself but I don't have sources to back up any such changes, I just know that the anteater count is wrong now.

<3 AfricanFireSkink (talk) 18:00, 10 November 2025 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: Comparative Vertebrate Zoology

This article is currently the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation–supported course assignment, between 18 August 2026 and 1 December 2026. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Cheesecake033 (article contribs). Peer reviewers: Quelocuraenamorarmeyodeti.

— Assignment last updated by Zoology52 (talk) 20:29, 22 September 2026 (UTC)