Why did anteaters develop longer tongues?
Since they don’t need to chew their prey, giant anteaters have long narrow skulls, extremely thin jaws, and no teeth. They feed by using their enormous front claws to rip open termite mounds and tear bark off of tree trunks, then deploying their long sticky tongues to snag the insects inside.
What did anteaters evolved from?
At one time, anteaters were assumed to be related to aardvarks and pangolins because of their physical similarities to those animals, but these similarities have since been determined to be not a sign of a common ancestor, but of convergent evolution.
Are the anteaters armadillo and pangolin an example of convergent or divergent evolution?
Yet pangolins lack certain highly distinctive skeletal features seen in armadillos and anteaters. Once pangolins were grouped with armadillos and anteaters in the Edentata, but today the similarities between pangolins and these others are considered to result from convergent evolution.
What kind of tongue does an anteater have?
The anteater’s narrow tongue is about 2 feet (60 centimeters) long and is shaped like a strand of spaghetti. This amazing tongue has teeny, backward-pointing spines covered in sticky saliva that aid in feeding.
What animal has a long tongue to eat termites?
Numbats are one of the more unusual Australian marsupials – unlike most of our native species they’re active during the day, are carnivorous, have an incredibly long tongue and their diet is almost exclusively termites.
What animal eats anteaters?
Giant anteaters have only two natural predators — pumas and jaguars. Sometimes the anteaters try to outrun their attackers, but other times they fight.
Can an anteater open its mouth?
To open its mouth, an anteater rotates the rami, depressing the inside edges of the blades and causing the flattened, oval mouth (a in the diagram above) to become a deeper diamond shape (b).
How do you know if evolution is convergent?
Convergent evolution is when different organisms independently evolve similar traits. For example, sharks and dolphins look relatively similar despite being entirely unrelated.
Which animal has longest tongue?
The longest tongues:
| Animal | Tongue | Body |
|---|---|---|
| Giant Pangolin | 27.5 inch (70 cm) | 39.3 inch (100 cm) |
| Giraffe | 21.2 inch (54 cm) | 236 inch (600 cm) |
| Sun Bear | 9.84 inch (25 cm) | 55.1 inch (140 cm) |
| Tube-Lipped Nectar Bat | 3.3 inch (8.5 cm) | 1.9 inch (5 cm) |
Which animal has a tongue longer than its body?
Relative to body length, it’s the chameleon. Chameleons catch insects by firing their sticky tongues at them, and range is extremely important, because even a stealthy chameleon can only get so close to a fly without startling it.
How long do anteaters live for?
Giant anteater: 14 – 16 years
Anteaters/Lifespan
Why does the anteater have a long tongue?
“Anteaters are almost exclusively myrmecophagous. We think the selective pressures in this diet led to a gradual stretching of the tongue.” A stretching of the tongue whose incredible results look like this:
How are anteaters related to aardvarks and pangolins?
At one time, anteaters were assumed to be related to aardvarks and pangolins because of their physical similarities to those animals, but these similarities have since been determined to be not a sign of a common ancestor, but of convergent evolution.
Which is the best example of convergent evolution?
Numbat — Perth Zoo, 13 July 2013. Here’s yet a third example of convergent evolution between marsupial and placental mammals. Anteaters are bizarre-looking animals, native to Central and South America, that feed not only on ants but other insects as well, with their almost comically extended snouts and long, sticky tongues.
Is it weird for an ant to have a tongue?
And scientists agree that, yes, anteater tongues are weird. But they’re also understudied. A team of Brazilian researchers is therefore spending its time trying to understand these slimy ant-licking noodlemouths.