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Giant anteater	The giant anteater can be found in multiple habitats, including grassland and rainforest. It forages in open areas and rests in more forested habitats. It feeds primarily on ants and termites, using its fore claws to dig them up and its long, sticky tongue to collect them. Though giant anteaters live in overlapping home ranges, they are mostly solitary except during mother-offspring relationships, aggressive interactions between males, and when mating. Mother anteaters carry their offspring on their backs until weaning them.
Giant anteater	The giant anteater got its binomial name from Carl Linnaeus in 1758. Its generic name, "Myrmecophaga", and specific name, "tridactyla", are both Greek, meaning "anteater" and "three fingers", respectively. "Myrmecophaga jubata" was used as a synonym. Three subspecies have been tentatively proposed: "M. t. tridactyla" (ranging from Venezuela and the Guianas to northern Argentina), "M. t. centralis" (native to Central America, northwestern Colombia, and northern Ecuador), and "M. t. artata" (native to northeastern Colombia and northwestern Venezuela). The giant anteater is grouped with the semiarboreal northern and southern tamanduas in the family Myrmecophagidae. Together with the family Cyclopedidae, whose only extant member is the arboreal silky anteater, the two families comprise the suborder Vermilingua.
Giant anteater	The giant anteater is the most terrestrial of the living anteater species. Its ancestors may originally have been adapted to arboreal life; the transition to life on the ground could have been aided by the expansion of open habitats such as savanna in South America and the availability there of colonial insects, such as termites, that provided a larger potential food source. Both the giant anteater and the southern tamandua are well represented in the fossil record of the late Pleistocene and early Holocene.
Giant anteater	Giant anteaters are good swimmers and are capable of moving through wide rivers. They have been observed to bathe. They are also able to climb and have been recorded ascending both termite mounds and trees while foraging. One individual was observed holding onto a branch with its feet just touching the ground.
Giant anteater	Giant anteaters' home ranges vary in size depending on the location. At Serra da Canastra National Park in Brazil, female anteaters have home ranges around , while males live in home ranges of . In other parts of Brazil, anteaters may have ranges. Anteaters from Venezuela have been recorded living in home ranges as large as . Individuals mostly live alone, except for females that nurse their young and males courting females. Anteaters communicate their presence, status, and sexual condition with secretions from their anal glands. They also advertise their presence to other individuals though tree markings and urine. They appear to be able to recognize each other's saliva by scent.
Giant anteater	In the mythology and folklore of the indigenous peoples of the Amazon Basin, the giant anteater is depicted as a trickster foil to the jaguar, as well as a humorous figure due to its long snout. In one Shipib tale, an anteater challenged a jaguar to a breath-holding contest under water, which the jaguar accepted. After the two removed their pelts and submerged, the anteater jumped out of the water and stole the jaguar's pelt, leaving the jaguar with the anteater's pelt. In a Yarabara myth, the evil ogre Ucara is transformed into one by the sun. This myth emphasizes the nearly immobile nature of the anteater's mouth, which was considered a burden. The Kayapo people wear masks of various animals and spirits, including the anteater, during naming and initiation ceremonies. They believe women who touched anteater masks or men who stumbled while wearing them would die or receive some sort of physical disorder.
Giant anteater	The giant anteater is listed as Vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. It has been extirpated from many parts of its former range, including nearly all of Central America. Threats to its survival include habitat destruction, fire, and poaching for fur and bushmeat, although some anteaters inhabit protected areas. With its distinctive appearance and habits, the anteater has been featured in pre-Columbian myths and folktales, as well as modern popular culture.
Giant anteater	The species is listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN, due to the number of regional extirpations, and under Appendix II by CITES, tightly restricting trade in specimens of the animal. Between 2000 and 2010, the total population declined by 30%. In 1994, some 340 giant anteaters died due to wildfires at Emas National Park in Brazil. The animal is particularly vulnerable to fires due to its slow movement and flammable coat.
Giant anteater	Females appear to be more tolerant of females than males are of males, leading to greater overlap in female home ranges. Males are more likely to engage in agonistic behaviors, such as slowly circling each other, chasing, or actual fighting. Circling anteaters may cry a drawn-out "harrr". In combat, they slash at each other with their claws and wrestle each other to the ground. Fighting anteaters may emit roars or bellows. Males are possibly territorial.
Giant anteater	Other prey include the larvae of beetles and western honey bees that have located their hives in termite mounds. Anteaters may target termite mounds with bee hives. In captivity, anteaters are fed mixtures made of milk, eggs, mealworms, and ground beef. To drink, an anteater may dig for water when no surface water is available, creating waterholes for other animals. Giant anteaters are prey for jaguars and pumas. They typically flee from danger by galloping, but if cornered, will rear up on their hind legs and slash at the attacker. The giant anteater's front claws are formidable weapons, capable of killing a jaguar.