What is the difference between an anteater and a spiny anteater

Spiny anteaters have powerful claws that let them furiously dig dirt, sending it flying sideways. As they do this they appear to sink into the ground, their back protected by tough, sharp spines. A spiny anteater looks very much like a porcupine, and is often given that common name because it has numerous yellow-colored spines covering its brown furred body.

Unlike porcupine spines, however, those of the spiny anteater do not have barbs that catch in the skin. When in danger, the in 76 cm long spiny anteater will often curl up into an impenetrable ball. Its face leaves no doubt that it is not a porcupine, being stretched forward into a slender, hairless snout with nostrils on the end.

The tiny mouth, located on the bottom of the snout, opens only wide enough for a long, sticky tongue to emerge and haul in its food of termites and ants. A spiny anteater has no teeth.

Instead, it chops up the tough bodies of its insect prey by smashing them against the roof of its mouth with its spiny tongue. One New Guinea species Zaglossus bruijni has an especially long and slightly curved snout, and is called the long-nosed echidna.

It has so much hair that its whitish spines are not readily visible. The tongue of this endangered species may be 12 in Begin typing your search term above and press enter to search. Press ESC to cancel. Skip to content Home Resume What are characteristics of spiny anteater?

Ben Davis March 10, What are characteristics of spiny anteater? What do spiny anteaters look like? Are spiny anteater endangered? Can Anteaters kill humans? What animals eat anteaters?

How long do anteaters live for? Do anteaters eat termites? Although all species feed on small insects, they have different preferences. While large species can penetrate nets of terrestrial insects, small species feed on arboreal insects on small branches. To hold insects together, their tongue is covered with thousands of tiny hooks, referred to as filiform papillae. The anteaters reside in rainforests, savannas, dry tropical forests and rainforests habitats.

They are solitary mammals, with an excellent sense of smell and poor sight. Pangolins are classified to the genus Manis in the family Minidae. On the other hand, anteaters are classified in the order Vermilingua and the order Pilosa. Pangolins are classified into eight species whereby the Asian pangolin species include Chinese pangolin, Sunda pangolin, Pawalan pangolin and Indian Pangolin while the African pangolin species include white-bellied pangolin, Giant pangolin, Ground pangolin and black-bellied pangolin.

On the other hand, anteaters are classified into the giant anteater, the northern tamandua, the silky anteater and the southern tamandua. Pangolins are found in savannah grassland; tropical and flooded forests cleared and cultivated areas not to mention tropical habitats.

On the other hand, anteaters are found in rainforests, savannas, dry tropical forests and rainforests habitats. Pangolins are found across Asia and the South of the Sahara desert. While both pangolins and anteaters are toothless, have long tongues, have powerful digging forearms and mainly feed on ants and termites, pangolins are found in savannah grassland; tropical and flooded forests cleared and cultivated areas not to mention tropical habitats while anteaters are found in rainforests, savannas, dry tropical forests and rainforests habitats.

Both are, however, rare species, with the pangolin being endangered while the anteaters have lost a great part of their population as a result of habitat destruction and hunting. Difference Between Pangolin and Anteater. Difference Between Similar Terms and Objects.

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