Myrmecophagidae

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Myrmecophagidae
Giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla)

Giant anteater ( Myrmecophaga tridactyla )

Systematics
Class : Mammals (mammalia)
Subclass : Higher mammals (Eutheria)
Superordinate : Sub-articulated animals (Xenarthra)
Order : Tooth arms (pilosa)
Subordination : Anteaters (Vermilingua)
Family : Myrmecophagidae
Scientific name
Myrmecophagidae
Gray , 1825

The Myrmecophagidae are a family within the anteaters (Vermilingua). They are widespread in Central and South America and inhabit forest and partly open landscapes. Their main diet consists of colonizing insects , which they ingest with their long tongue. The giant anteater is the largest representative, while the two types of tamanduas are significantly smaller. The population of the Tamanduas is only slightly threatened, whereas the giant anteater is endangered.

features

Northern Tamandua ( Tamandua mexicana )

The Myrmecophagidae include small to medium-sized mammals with a head-to-trunk length of 47 to 140 cm. The weight varies between 2 and 50 kg depending on the genus and species. Characteristic are the long, tubular snout, the small eyes and the likewise small, rounded ears. The mouth is greatly reduced and lies directly at the tip of the snout. This also has a long and sticky tongue that is used for food intake. Like all representatives of the suborder Vermilingua , the Myrmecophagidae also have no teeth. Another typical feature is the long tail. Four toes are formed on each forefeet, of which all of the Tamanduas ( Tamandua ), but only three of the Great Anteater ( Myrmecophaga ) have long, crescent-shaped claws, with the middle one (ray III) being the longest. The hind feet have five toes.

The skeletal features include the severely receded zygomatic arch and the wide region between the eyes. The posterior end of the palatine bone is formed by the wing bone . Other peculiarities are the additional articular surfaces on the articular processes (zygapophyses) of the posterior thoracic and lumbar vertebrae ( xenarthric joints ), which relegate the Myrmecophagidae to the subordinate articulation .

Distribution and way of life

Southern Tamandua ( Tamandua tetradactyla )

The representatives of the Myrmecophagidae are endemic to America and occur from Central America to central South America east of the Andes . There they inhabit tropical rainforests , but also dry forests and more open savannah landscapes . While the giant anteater is purely a ground dweller due to its size, the tamanduas can also move around in the trees and look for food there. On the ground they move with their hind feet flat on the ground (sole passage), while the front feet touch the ground with their ankles (ankle passage). The food consists largely of ants and termites , whereby the structures of the insects are torn open with the claws of the forefeet and the animals are licked with the tongue. All species of the Myrmecophagidae live solitary, only during the breeding season do several individuals come together. Usually only one cub is born. Since the small snout and the front feet with the sharp claws are unsuitable for transporting the young animal, it usually rides on the back of the mother animal during the suckling phase.

Systematics

The Myrmecophagidae form a family within the suborder of the anteaters (Vermilingua). This in turn belongs to the superordinate order of the secondary articulated animals (Xenarthra), one of the four main lines of the higher mammals . The closest relatives of the anteaters are the sloths (Folivora) with which they form the order of the tooth arms (Pilosa). According to molecular genetic studies, the two groups separated about 58 million years ago. The tooth arms form the sister taxon to the Cingulata , which bring together the armadillos (Dasypoda) and their extinct relatives such as the Glyptodontidae .

The closest relatives of the Myrmecophagidae within the anteaters are the today monotypical Cyclopedidae , to which recently only the dwarf anteaters ( Cyclopes ) belong. The split of the two families, also determined by molecular genetic analyzes, took place in the Middle Eocene around 40 million years ago. The further splitting of the Myrmecophagidae into today's lines took place in the Upper Miocene around 10 to 13 million years ago.

Internal systematics of the recent anteaters according to Delsuc et al. 2012
  Vermilingua  
  Cyclopedidae  

 Cyclopes


  Myrmecophagidae  
  Tamandua  

 Tamandua mexicana


   

 Tamandua tetradactyla



   

 Myrmecophaga




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Today the Myrmecophagidae comprise two genera with a total of three species :

  • Myrmecophagidae Gray , 1825.

Fossil are two other genera known with Protamandua and Neotamandua , the former being detected in the Middle Miocene, the latter in the Upper Miocene and the Pliocene .

threat

The representatives of the Myrmecophagidae are partly less threatened species. The reason for this is their mostly larger range. However, deforestation and the conversion of open landscapes into economically used areas can have a local impact on stocks. Forest and bush fires in some regions also affect local populations in some cases . At the moment the IUCN only lists the giant anteater as "endangered" ( vulnerable ), the two Tamandua species are considered "not endangered" ( least concern ).

literature

  • Alessandra Bertassoni: Myrmecophagidae (Anteaters). In: Don E. Wilson and Russell A. Mittermeier (eds.): Handbook of the Mammals of the World. Volume 8: Insectivores, Sloths and Colugos. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona 2018, pp. 74–90 ISBN 978-84-16728-08-4

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Virginia Hayssen: Tamandua tetradactyla. In: Mammalian Species. 43 (875), 2011, pp. 64-74.
  2. ↑ Daya Navarrete, Jorge Ortega: Tamandua mexicana. In: Mammalian Species. 43 (874), 2011, pp. 56-63.
  3. ^ Paul Smith: Giant Anteater: Myrmecophaga tridactyla Linnaeus, 1758. In: Fauna of Paraguay. 2, 2007, pp. 1-18.
  4. ^ A b c Paul Smith: The Xenarthra families Myrmecophagidae and Dasypodidae. Fauna Paraguay Handbook of the Mammals of Paraguay 2012, pp. 1-35 ( [1] ).
  5. ^ A b Alfred L. Gardner: Mammals of South America, Volume 1: Marsupials, Xenarthrans, Shrews, and Bats. University of Chicago Press, 2008, ISBN 978-0-226-28240-4 , pp. 168-177.
  6. ↑ a b Alessandra Bertassoni: Myrmecophagidae (Anteaters). In: Don E. Wilson and Russell A. Mittermeier (eds.): Handbook of the Mammals of the World. Volume 8: Insectivores, Sloths and Colugos. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona 2018, pp. 74–90 ISBN 978-84-16728-08-4 .
  7. ↑ a b Mariella Superina, Flávia Regina Miranda, Manuel Agustín Abba: The 2010 Anteater Red List assessment. In: Edentata. 11 (2), 2010, pp. 96-114.
  8. ^ Daniela C. Kalthoff: Microstructure of Dental Hard Tissues in Fossil and Recent Xenarthrans (Mammalia: Folivora and Cingulata). In: Journal of Morphology . 272, 2011, pp. 641-661.
  9. ↑ a b c Frédéric Delsuc, Mariella Superina, Marie-Ka Tilak, Emmanuel JP Douzery and Alexandre Hassanin: Molecular phylogenetics unveils the ancient evolutionary origins of the enigmatic fairy armadillos. In: Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 62, 2012, pp. 673-680.
  10. ↑ Frédéric Delsuc, Sergio F Vizcaíno and Emmanuel JP Douzery: Influence of Tertiary paleoenvironmental changes on the diversification of South American mammals: a relaxed molecular clock study within xenarthrans. In: BMC Evolutionary Biology. 4 (11), 2004, pp. 1-13.
  11. ^ Sue D. Hirschfeld: A new fossil anteater (Edentata, Mammalia) from Colombia, SA and evolution of the Vermilingua. In: Journal of Paleontology. 50 (3), 1976, pp. 419-432.

Web links

Commons : Anteaters (Myrmecophagidae)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files