Wildlifeof Costa Rica
Northern Tamandua
Anteaters & Armadillos
Photo: Brooke Smith · CC BY 4.0
Tamandua mexicana
Basic stats
Diet
Ants and termites, mostly larger insects over 4mm; occasionally a little fruit
Habitat
Evergreen, deciduous, mangrove, cloud and secondary forest, plus savanna and thorn scrub; partly arboreal
Range
Southern Mexico through Central America to north-western South America
Litter size
1
Gestation period
130–150 days
Size
Total length 102–130cm including a 40–68cm tail
Weight
3.2–5.4kg
The northern tamandua is a medium-sized anteater with a prehensile tail, small eyes and ears, a long toothless snout and a pale yellow coat with a black vest-shaped patch over the back, shoulders and flanks. The forefeet have four toes with an unusually large claw on the middle one for ripping into wood, and tough palm pads that give a grip when climbing. The sticky tongue is long and extensible, and the tail is hairy on its upper surface for only about a third of its length (Wikipedia, general species account).
Tamanduas are solitary, active day or night for around eight hours, and spend about 40% of their active time in trees, often resting in tree hollows, liana tangles or abandoned armadillo burrows. A tamandua may eat thousands of insects a day, from many nests, which it locates by smell and digs into with its claws; it moves on before the colony's defences become a problem. If threatened it can stand up on its hind legs and tail and lash out with its claws. Jaguars and harpy eagles are known predators (Wikipedia, general species account; GBIF species profile).
In coastal forest at Cabo Blanco in Costa Rica the species has been described as abundant. On this guide it is a target species of Corcovado.
Quick answers
- What does the Northern Tamandua eat?
- Ants and termites, mostly larger insects over 4mm; occasionally a little fruit
- What habitat does the Northern Tamandua live in?
- Evergreen, deciduous, mangrove, cloud and secondary forest, plus savanna and thorn scrub; partly arboreal
- Where is the Northern Tamandua found?
- Southern Mexico through Central America to north-western South America
- What is the litter size of the Northern Tamandua?
- 1
- How long is the gestation period of the Northern Tamandua?
- 130–150 days
- How big is the Northern Tamandua?
- Total length 102–130cm including a 40–68cm tail
- How much does the Northern Tamandua weigh?
- 3.2–5.4kg