The Southern Tamandua or Tamandua (Tamandua tetradactyla) is classified as a “true anteater”; other true anteaters in Guyana include the Giant Anteater and Silky Anteater, both of which have been featured in this column previously.
To be a true anteater is to have no teeth, only a long, tube-like snout with a long tongue. This nose and tongue is used to reach into inaccessible crevices to trap insects with its sticky saliva. True anteaters have small eyes and ears and powerful hooked front paws that are used to rip apart ant and termite nests.