Northern Tamandua

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Northern Tamandua
DirkvdM tamandua.jpg

Northern Tamandua ( Tamandua mexicana )

Systematics
Superordinate : Sub-articulated animals (Xenarthra)
Order : Tooth arms (pilosa)
Subordination : Anteaters (Vermilingua)
Family : Myrmecophagidae
Genre : Tamanduas ( Tamandua )
Type : Northern Tamandua
Scientific name
Tamandua mexicana
( Saussure , 1860)

The Northern Tamandua ( Tamandua mexicana ) is an anteater belonging to the genus Tamanduas . It is widespread in Central America and in the northwest of South America , where it inhabits different, but mostly tree-covered landscape types. Generally it lives solitary on the ground as well as in trees and feeds on insects that build up states . Male and female animals only come together during the rut, with one young being born per litter, but little is known about reproduction. For a long time the Northern Tamandua was considered a subspecies of the Southern Tamandua , it was not recognized as an independent species until 1975. The entire population is considered not to be endangered.

features

Habitus

The Northern Tamandua is a medium-sized anteater species with an average head-trunk length of 56 cm and a tail length of 40 to 67.5 cm . The body weight varies from 3.2 to 5.4 kg, so it is slightly smaller than its southern relative, the southern Tamandua ( Tamandua tetradactyla ). Some populations show a slight sexual dimorphism , with females having a slightly greater overall length, while males are characterized by more robust skulls. The tail is usually at least as long as the rest of the body. The fur dress consists of short hair and has a beige or light brown basic tint. The black vest pattern is characteristic, which does not show any differences between male and female animals. The tail is also beige in the front third, while the rear part is naked and darkly blotchy. The head has a somewhat elongated snout, but this is not as clearly extended as that of the great anteater ( Myrmecophaga tridactyla ), and it is also somewhat narrower than that of the southern Tamandua. As with all anteaters, the mouth is toothless and houses a long tongue covered with sticky saliva. The eyes are generally small, the ears are around 4.4 cm shorter than that of the southern sister species, but like this one they have a rounded shape. The strong legs, which are suitable for climbing, end in four toes with long, sickle-like claws, the third being the longest. The average 9.8 cm long hind feet, on the other hand, have five toes with shorter claws.

Skull and skeletal features

The skull has a length of around 12 cm and is 4.0 to 4.2 cm wide at the brain skull. The rostrum is extended and covers about half the length of the skull, but the nasal bone is 4.6 cm in length, shorter than the frontal bone . Characteristically, the cheekbones are only rudimentary. Furthermore, there are some externally invisible distinguishing features on the skull that are decisive for the demarcation of the northern from the southern Tamandua. These include the shape of the infraorbital foramen with a complete border and a higher number (four pairs) of small depressions near the eye socket. The rather graceful lower jaw becomes a little over 10 cm long. Another distinguishing feature between the two Tamandua species is the number of caudal vertebrae, which is 40 to 42 in the Northern Tamandua.

Sensory performances and vocalizations

The Northern Tamandua has an excellent sense of smell , which is mainly used for foraging. Adult animals hardly make any vocalizations, but these are known from young animals.

distribution

Distribution areas of the four subspecies:
red: Tamandua mexicana mexicana
blue: Tamandua m. opistholeuca
green: Tamandua m. unabilis
yellow: Tamandua m. punensis

Northern Tamandua inhabits Central America as well as the parts of northwestern South America that lie north and west of the Andean Arc . The northern limit of the distribution area lies in the extreme south and southeast of Mexico , although observations from the southwest of the country have recently become known. To the south it extends to the northernmost Peru , to the east to the Colombian - Venezuelan border area. The tamandua species has been detected from sea level up to 2000 m, although it is usually rarely found above 1000 m. The entire distribution area covers 1.5 million square kilometers. The preferred habitats are tropical rainforests and subtropical dry forests, but also mangrove areas and deciduous forest landscapes. The Northern Tamandua also occurs in open areas, but some of them must be covered with trees. It has also been observed in secondary forests and in human-influenced habitats. The population density is given for Panama with 0.13 and for Costa Rica with 0.06 individuals per square kilometer. Especially in the southeastern distribution area there is an overlap with the habitats of southern Tamandua.

Way of life

Territorial behavior

Northern Tamandua in the Gandoca-Manzanillo National Wildlife Sanctuary in Costa Rica

The Northern Tamandua lives as a loner and is active during the day and at night, but generally rests during the greatest heat of the day. It moves both on the ground by folding the claws of the front feet down and putting the weight on the outer edges of the feet, as well as in trees. He spends around 40% of his active time in trees. He more often uses lianas to get from tree to tree, less often he climbs over branches. The individual animals maintain territories, which are distributed with scented drusen on the rear, the animals also have a strong smell of their own. The size of the districts averages 25 ha, but in extreme cases it can reach up to 70 ha. There are up to 20 resting places within the territory, of which Northern Tamandua visits one or two a day. Characteristic features of resting places are a closed canopy of leaves, a dense tree population and dense vegetation in general. The daily activity time is around eight hours, which are usually interrupted by up to three rest phases lasting around half an hour. During its active phase, the Tamanduaart can travel up to 3.4 km. An animal spends only a few minutes on a tree and visits up to 20 trees in an hour. It is often said that Northern Tamandua shuns water, but animals have been observed swimming over 120 m in the water to reach Barro Colorado Island in the Panama Canal , with only their long snouts protruding from the water.

nutrition

Northern Tamandua in Corcovado National Park

The main food of Northern Tamandua consists of insects that form colonies such as ants and termites . Around a third of these include ants, of which he eats around 9,000 individuals every day using his long, sticky tongue. Mostly worker ants are preferred, which more than double the amount of food they eat, while larvae still make up around 10% . To eat, nests on the ground as well as in trees are broken open with the sharp forefoot claws. Due to the chemical defense of the insects, eating takes about 1 minute, rarely up to 5 minutes. As a result, the Northern Tamandua has to visit between 50 and 80 nests per day, but the individual colonies are not damaged too much. In general, the northern Tamandua seems to have a larger food spectrum than its southern relative, which research in Colombia has shown. The most commonly eaten genera of ants include Camponotus , Azteca and Crematogaster , but also Solenopsis and Camponotus . Most of them are large forms of over 4 mm in length. This is also where evidence of the consumption of leaf- cutting ants comes from , especially representatives of the Atta genus , which is rarely the case with anteaters. The termites are also very abundantly represented in the food spectrum, including above all the genera Armitermes , Calcaritermes , Leucotermes and Nasutitermes . Sometimes more termites than ants are eaten locally in the rainy season, but overall there are strong individual differences in food intake, as in southern Tamandua. Occasionally, remains of fruits were found in the stomach contents , in Panama animals could be observed that actively ate those of the palm species Attalea butyracea .

Reproduction

Little is known about the reproduction of the Northern Tamadua, but it may not be seasonal and take place throughout the year. The duration of the oestrus is probably around 35 to 42 days, analogous to that of Southern Tamandua. During the rut , males woo females by sniffing or licking insects and chasing one another. The mating is carried out, according to observations by multiple upgrades of the male to the female, which lasts 10 to 30 seconds in each case, long interrupted by up to two minutes of rest. The gestation period is given as 130 to 150, sometimes up to 190 days. As a rule, a young animal is born with a similar fur pattern to the adult animal, but with longer back hair, and the dark vest is also interspersed with yellow hair. During the lactation period, the young animal is cared for intensively by the mother, but the mother leaves the offspring for a short time to eat. Female animals sometimes reach sexual maturity as early as six months. Life expectancy is around 9.5 years.

Predator and enemy behavior

The most important predators are jaguars and harpies . Threatened tamanduas stand up on their hind legs, a tree trunk or stone is often sought to cover their backs, and they defend themselves with the claws of their front feet.

Parasites

External parasites are mostly fleas , such as the genera Echidnophaga and Rhopalopsyllus . In addition, it is known that the Tamandua species serves as the carrier of the protozoon Leishmania , which, transmitted by sandflies , can cause leishmaniasis in humans. Likewise, the Chagas disease caused by the single cell Trypanosoma cruzi and dangerous for humans has also been proven. The bacterium Leptospira as the causative agent of leptospirosis could also be identified.

Systematics

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

 Cyclopes


  Myrmecophagidae  
  Tamandua  

 Tamandua mexicana


   

 Tamandua tetradactyla



   

 Myrmecophaga




Template: Klade / Maintenance / Style

The northern tamandua is next to the southern tamandua ( Tamandua tetradactyla ) one of the two species of the genus Tamandua . The Tamanduas, in turn, are part of the Myrmecophagidae family , which also includes the great anteater ( Myrmecophaga tridactyla ). Within the suborder of the anteaters (Vermilingua), the Myrmecophagidae are the sister taxons of the Cyclopedidae, the only recent representatives of which are the dwarf anteaters ( Cyclopes ). Molecular genetic studies have shown that the separation of the Myrmecophagidae and the Cyclopedidae already took place in the Middle Eocene around 38 million years ago. The division of the Myrmecophagidae into the lines of development of Tamandua and Myrmecophaga began, according to the same studies, in the transition from the Middle to the Upper Miocene about 13 million years ago.

Although the splitting of the Vermilingua was determined by molecular genetics about 38 million years ago, the genus Tamandua was found in fossils for the first time in the Pleistocene of South America , whereby the Northern Tamandua in particular can be detected quite well in the Holocene . A possible predecessor of the two genera Myrmecophaga and Tamandua is Protamandua from the Santacruzian around 16 million years ago; this mediates in its size between Tamandua and Cyclopes , but is more generalized than these two. Neotamandua , which is assigned to the Upper Miocene of the La Venta Formation in Colombia and the Pliocene of the Araucano Formation in Argentina and, according to morphological studies, may be more closely related to Myrmecophaga , comes from somewhat more recent deposits .

There are four subspecies of Northern Tamandua:

The Northern Tamandua was originally considered a subspecies of the Southern Tamandua, only in 1975 it was recognized by Ralph M. Wetzel as an independent species due to numerous morphological and morphometric deviations. The first mention of this northern form of the Tamanduas was in 1860 by Henri de Saussure as Myrmecophaga tamandua var. Mexicana , who stated "Tabasco" in Mexico as the type locality. The name "Tamandua", which was conveyed to Europe via Portuguese ( tamanduá ), comes from the Tupi language of Brazil and is made up of the words tacy ("ant") and monduar ("to catch").

Threat and protection

In some regions, such as southern Mexico , the meat of northern Tamandua is used as a source of food, and here it is sometimes kept as pets. Skin and fur are of no major economic importance, but are sometimes used for decoration. Since the Tamandua species can defend itself quite effectively against pets, such as dogs, due to its sharp forefoot claws , it is hunted regionally for this reason. Furthermore, wild fires and car collisions have an impact on the game population, as well as the destruction of the landscape through the expansion of human settlements and economic areas, although the dimensions have not yet been largely investigated. The IUCN classifies the entire population as “not at risk” ( least concern ), but the development of the population trend is unknown. Furthermore, the Northern Tamandua is represented in several nature reserves, such as the Soberanía National Park in Panamá, the Machalilla National Park and the Reserva ecológica Manglares-Churute , both in Ecuador.

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 (p. 89) ISBN 978-84-16728-08-4
  • Daya Navarrete and Jorge Ortega: Tamandua mexicana. Mammalian Species 43 (874), 2011, pp. 56-63
  • Ronald M. Nowak: Walker's Mammals of the World. Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999, ISBN 0-8018-5789-9

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l Daya Navarrete and Jorge Ortega: Tamandua mexicana. Mammalian Species 43 (874), 2011, pp. 56-63
  2. ↑ a b c d Ralph M. Wetzel: The species of Tamandua Gray (Edentata, Myrmecophagidae). Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, 88 (1), 1975, pp. 95-112
  3. ^ A b Hugh H. Genoways and Robert M. Timm: The Xenarthrans of Nicaragua. Mastozoologia Neotropical 10 (2), 2003, pp. 231-253
  4. ↑ a b c d e f g 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 (p. 89) ISBN 978-84-16728-08-4
  5. ↑ Rodrigo Nuñez-Perez, Edder Corona-Corona, Javier Torres-Villanueva, Canek Anguiano-Méndez, Miguel Tornez, Ivan Solorio & Alejandro Torres: Nuevos registros del oso hormiguero, Tamandua mexicana, en el occidente de México. Edentata 12, 2011, pp. 58-62
  6. ↑ Manuel R. Guariguata, Harold Arias-Le Claire and Gabriela Jones: Tree seed fate in a logged and fragmented forest landscape, northeastern Costa Rica. Biotropica 34 (3), 2002, pp. 405-415
  7. ↑ Flávia Miranda and Mariella Superina: Tamandua mexicana. Edentata 11 (2), 2010, pp. 106-107
  8. ^ Helen Esser, Danielle Brown, and Yorick Liefting: Swimming in the Northern Tamandua (Tamandua mexicana) in Panama. Edentata 11 (1), 2010, pp. 70-72
  9. ↑ Vivian E. Sandoval-Gómez, Héctor E. Ramírez-Chaves and David Marín: Registros de hormigas y termitas presentes en la dieta de osos hormigueros (Mammalia: Myrmecophagidae) en tres localidades de Colombia. Edentata 13, 2012, pp. 1-9
  10. ↑ Kent H. Redford: Dietary specialization and variation in two mammalian myrmecophages (variation in mammalian myrmecophagy). Revista Chilena de Historia Natural 59, 1986, pp. 201-208
  11. ↑ Danielle D. Brown: Fruit-eating by an obligate insectivore: palm fruit consumption in wild northern tamanduas (Tamandua mexicana) in Panamá. Edentata 13, 2012, pp. 63-65
  12. ↑ David Matlaga: Mating Behavior of the Northern Tamandua (Tamandua mexicana) in Costa Rica. Edentata 7, 2006, pp. 46-48
  13. ↑ a b 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. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 62, 2012, 673-680
  14. ↑ 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. BMC Evolutionary Biology 4 (11), 2004, pp. 1-13
  15. ↑ Gillian C. Gibb, Fabien L. Condamine, Melanie Kuch, Jacob Enk, Nadia Moraes-Barros, Mariella Superina, Hendrik N. Poinar and Frédéric Delsuc: Shotgun Mitogenomics Provides a Reference Phylogenetic Framework and Timescale for Living Xenarthrans. Molecular Biology and Evolution 33 (3), 2015, pp. 621-642
  16. ^ Sue D. Hirschfeld: A new fossil anteater (Edentata, Mammalia) from Colombia, SA and evolution of the Vermilingua. Journal of Paleontology 50 (3), 1976, pp. 419-432
  17. ↑ Timothy J. Gaudin and Daniel G. Branham: The Phylogeny of the Myrmecophagidae (Mammalia, Xenarthra, Vermilingua) and the Relationship of Eurotamandua to the Vermilingua. Journal of Mammalian Evolution 5 (3), 1998, pp. 237-265
  18. ↑ Eduardo Espinoza, Epigmenio Cruz, Helda Kramsky and Ignacio Sánchez: 2003. Mastofauna de la Reserva de la Biósfera “La Encrucijada”, Chiapas. Revista Mexicana de Mastozoología 7, 2003, pp. 5-19
  19. ↑ Flávia Miranda and Mariella Superina: Tamandua mexicana. In: IUCN 2013. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.1. ( [1] ), last accessed on July 19, 2013

Web links

Commons : Northern Tamandua ( Tamandua mexicana )  - Collection of images, videos, and audio files