Designed by Paul Smith 2006. This website is copyrighted by law.
Material contained herewith may not be used without the prior written permission of FAUNA Paraguay.
Material on this page was provided by Paul Smith, Karen Penayo Alvarez, Sergio Rios, Joaquín Movia, Arne Lesterhuis and Hugo del Castillo and are used with their permission.
SOUTHERN TAMANDUA Tamandua tetradactyla 
Smith P 2007 - FAUNA Paraguay Handbook of the Mammals of Paraguay Number 3 Southern Tamandua Tamandua tetradactyla
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With his prehensile tail the Southern Tamandua is adapted to a life in the trees, descending to land only when he needs a change of scenery! Like all anteaters the Tamandua is myrmecophagous (it feeds exclusively on ants), targetting arboreal termite nests which it breaks open with its hooked foreclaws. Evidence suggest that anteaters use the formic acid which the ants contain to help digest their food, literally dissolving them in their own juices!
Click on the images to enlarge them.
FIGURE 1 - (FPMAM38PH) Adult, Departamento Concepción (Hugo del Castillo December 2007).
FIGURE 2 - (FPMAM39PH) Same individual dorsal view (Hugo del Castillo December 2007).
FIGURE 3 - (FPMAM40PH) Adult, Estancia Cachiveo, Departamento Presidente Hayes (Karen Penayo Alvarez July 2007).
FIGURE 4 - (FPMAM41PH) Same individual (Karen Penayo Alvarez July 2007).
FIGURE 5 - (FPMAM905PH) Adult, Departamento Presidente Hayes (Arne Lesterhuis March 2010).
FIGURE 6 - (FPMAM906PH) Same individual (Arne Lesterhuis March 2010).
FIGURE 7 - (FPMAM907PH) Same individual (Arne Lesterhuis March 2010).
FIGURE 8 - (FPMAM908PH) Same individual (Arne Lesterhuis March 2010).
FIGURE 9 - (FPMAM1189PH) Adult, camino a San Carlos del Apa, departamento Concepción (Sergio Rios July 2017).
FIGURE 10 - (FPMAM1190PH) Adult, Cabañas, departamento Cordillera (Joaquín Movia May 2018).
VIDEO - (FPMAM993VI) Adult, Ruta between Pozo Colorado and Concepción, Departamento Concepción (Paul Smith August 2011).
FIGURE 11 - (FPMAM42PH) An adult roadkill specimen from the Ruta Trans Chaco at approximately km200 (Paul Smith March 2005).
FIGURE 12 - (FPMAM43PH) Head detail of same specimen showing tongue (Paul Smith March 2005).
FIGURE 13 - (FPMAM903PH) Forefoot from adult roadkill specimen, Ruta Trans Chaco at approximately km250, Departamento Presidente Hayes (Paul Smith November 2010).
FIGURE 14 - (FPMAM904PH) Same individual hindfoot (Paul Smith November 2010).
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CLICK THE HANDBOOK LINK ABOVE TO DOWNLOAD PDFS OF THE SPECIES ACCOUNTS FOR THE FAUNA PARAGUAY HANDBOOK OF PARAGUAYAN MAMMALS VOLUME 2: XENARTHRA.
LINKS TO DOWNLOADABLE OPEN ACCESS REFERENCES USED IN THE PREPARATION OF THE FAUNA PARAGUAY HANDBOOK OF THE MAMMALS OF PARAGUAY SPECIES ACCOUNT FOR THIS SPECIES:

Allen JA 1904 - The Tamandua Anteaters - Bulletin AMNH 20: p385-398.
Jimeno GP 2003 - Crianza Artificial y Manejo Reproductivo de los Tamandua Tamandua tetradactyla en el Jardín Zoológico de Rosario, Argentina - Edentata 5: p25-28.
Myers P, Espinosa R, Parr CS, Jones T, Hammond GS, Dewey A 2006 - The Animal Diversity Web (online). Accessed December 2007.
Rodrigues FHG, Marinho-Filho JS 2003 - Diurnal Rest Sites of Translocated Lesser Anteaters Tamandua tetradactyla in the Cerrado of Brazil - Edentata 5: p44-46.