Maven: The Definitive Guide

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The animal on the cover of Maven: The Definitive Guide is a giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla), the largest species of anteater. It grows to an average length of seven feet and weighs about 85 pounds—the size of a German shepherd dog. Its head tapers to a long, narrow snout, and its tail is nearly as large as the rest of its body and covered with bristly hair. Despite its species name, tridactyla (Greek for “three fingers”), the anteater has five digits on each foot, but the middle three have extra-long claws. The anteater uses these claws to break open insect mounds and defend itself against predators. It walks on its knuckles to protect the claws, causing it to walk with a shuffle.

Giant anteaters live in grasslands and tropical forests in Central and South America, where ants and termites are plentiful. They prefer to eat soft-bodied insects because anteaters are edentate animals, meaning they have no teeth; instead of chewing, they crush their food against hard growths on the inside of their mouths.The anteater first tears an opening in a tree trunk or an anthill with its claws, and then it uses its snout and tongue to collect the insects inside. It has the longest tongue in proportion to body size of any mammal—more than two feet long—and can scoop up thousands of insects in minutes. A single anteater can eat up to 30,000 ants and termites each day.

Being solitary creatures, giant anteaters tend not to stay in one spot for long. They are not aggressive, ...