Anteater: where it lives, what it looks like, what it eats. Marsupial anteater, nambat

Family marsupial anteaters Familia Myrmecobiidae
Genus marsupial anteaters myrmecobius
Myrmecobius fasciatus Waterhouse, 1836 (IV, 10)

Why is it listed in the Red Book?

Endangered. Numbers unknown, but have been declining sharply since the mid-1970s. The reasons for its decline are not entirely clear, but, apparently, are associated with human changes in the marsupial anteater’s habitat and with the introduction of predators - foxes and feral cats.

How to find out

Body length 17-27 cm. Tail length 13-17 cm. The head is somewhat flattened with an elongated and pointed muzzle. Mouth small

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The tongue can protrude up to 10 cm from the mouth. It is used to catch termites. The eyes are big. The ears are medium sized and pointed. The back of the body is larger than the front. The tail is covered thick hair. The limbs are relatively short, widely spaced.

In the family marsupial anteaters singular gender: marsupial anteaters Myrmecobius included in Sometimes marsupial anteaters are included in the family Dasyuridae. There is one species in the genus marsupial anteaters: the marsupial anteater M.fasdatus, included in the IUCN Red List.

The front paws are five-toed and the hind paws are four-toed. Fingers with strong claws. The hairline is tall and coarse. Its color on the back is grayish-brown or reddish with 6-12 white transverse stripes. The belly and limbs are yellow-white. Females do not have a brood pouch.

Where does it live?

In the past they were widespread throughout the southern part of the Australian mainland. Currently found only in the southwest of Western Australia.

Lifestyle and biology

They inhabit open forests dominated by eucalyptus trees and an understory of shrubs. The spread is associated with the presence of termites, which not only serve as food, but also contribute to the formation of hollows used as shelters.

Favorite habitats are forests dominated by Eucalyptus wand o o, inhabited by the termite Coptotermes acinaciformis, and with an understory of the poisonous shrub Gastrolobium microcarpum. Less common in forests dominated by E. margmata, which is more resistant to termites, and in hillside forests dominated by E. accedens.

They are active mainly at night. The day is spent in the hollows of fallen trees. Sometimes they make nests from leaves, bark and grass. Occasionally they dig holes. They feed on termites of all types, and also eat small quantity ants.

Breeding in southwestern Australia appears to be seasonal. The female usually gives birth to a litter of 4 cubs from January to April or May.

Marsupial anteater or nambat (Myrmecobius fasciatus) is a unique animal. It is the only member of the Myrmecobius family whose closest relative, the Tasmanian or Tasmanian tiger, is now extinct.

Features

The nambat, unlike other representatives of marsupials, is a carnivore. Leads an active lifestyle during the day, which is associated with the daily activity of its prey. At night he sleeps, falling into a daze. Despite the name, female marsupials do not have a pouch.

Description

Nambat is a small mammal. It reaches a length of 35–45 cm together with its tail, and the weight of an adult anteater varies from 300 to 752 g. It is easily recognized by its red-brown or gray-brown fur and white and black longitudinal stripes on its back. The fur is harsh and thick.

On an elongated, pointed muzzle, along which runs from the nose to the eye black stripe, there are small erect ears. The animal's tongue is long and narrow and can protrude 10 cm from its mouth. It has 52 teeth, which are small and weak.

It runs on four legs, with five toes on the front and four toes on the back. Armed with strong and sharp claws. The long, bushy tail resembles a bottle brush.

Nutrition. Lifestyle

This animal only eats (if it comes across other types of insects, it can eat them too) and is capable of eating up to 20 thousand every day. Possessing a keen sense of smell, they quickly find food, digging up the ground with their paws or breaking apart rotten trees with their paws, and using their sticky tongue they grab termites.

They lead an active lifestyle during the day, preferring solitude. They are good at climbing trees. At night they sleep in hollow trees or hollow logs. In case of danger, they hide in a secluded place. Animals have a well-developed sense of smell.

Habitat

The remaining few colonies of numbats now live only in Western Australia. They inhabit eucalyptus forests, where old and fallen trees provide hollow logs for shelter, nesting and feeding, and grasslands that are close to water.

Reproduction

Marsupial anteaters live alone most of the time. Their mating season begins from December to April. At this time, males leave their territories and go to look for females. To attract them, they leave marks on trees along the way with an oily secretion.

Usually one female gives birth to 2 - 4 blind and naked cubs. The length of one newborn is 10mm. Baby anteaters crawl to the female's nipples, and, sucking, hang on them. When the babies gain weight, they cling to their mother's fur.

4 months after the birth of the cubs, the female leaves them in the nest and goes in search of food. They stay with their mother for 9 months and then leave the nest. Puberty in animals it occurs in the 2nd year of life.

Lifespan

IN wildlife marsupial anteaters (nambats) live on average 6 years.

The nambat (Myrmecobius fasciatus), also known as the marsupial anteater, is a rare mammal, the only representative of the marsupial anteater family (Myrmecobiidae). Once widespread across the Australian continent, it is now critically endangered.

What does a marsupial anteater look like?

The marsupial anteater is one of the most beautiful animals of the Green Continent. It's not the size more cat. Its body length is 18–28 cm, and it weighs only 275–550 g. The animal’s tail is fluffy, almost like a squirrel’s, its length is about 2/3 of the body length. The muzzle is elongated, the eyes are quite large, the mouth is very wide, the ears are small and pointed. The tongue is narrow and long, can extend up to 10 cm. Nambat is one of the most toothy animals, it has 50-52 teeth in total, but they are small and weak, often asymmetrical. The paws of the marsupial anteater are quite short, widely spaced, the front ones are five-toed, the rear ones are four-toed, equipped with powerful claws.

The nambat sports black and white stripes on the rump and two white stripes bordered by dark ones running from the base of each ear through the eyes to the nose. The crown and nape are reddish-brown with graying, the belly and paws are yellow-white.

What's for lunch?

The marsupial anteater's diet consists almost entirely of termites; It can eat other small invertebrates only accidentally, together with termites. The animal spends most of its time searching for food. A very keen sense of smell helps him search for insects. The nambat walks leisurely, sniffing the ground and turning over pieces of wood in search of underground passages for termites, and having found a passage, it sits down on its hind legs and quickly begins to dig. The animal reaches its prey with an extremely long and flexible tongue. This marsupial can eat 10-20 thousand insects per day! The limbs and claws of the numbat are not as strong as those of other myrmecophages; it is not able to cope with a strong termite mound. Therefore, hunting is carried out mainly in the daytime, when termites move through underground galleries or under the bark of trees in search of food.

Lifestyle of marsupial anteaters

Except mating season, marsupial anteaters stay solitary. Each individual occupies an individual plot of up to 150 hectares. The animals usually use hollow logs as shelters, and in cold weather they sometimes dig holes for night rest. In burrows and trunks they make nests from leaves, grass or bark.

The breeding season of numbats is from January to May. Usually 2-4 cubs are born. Immediately after birth, babies are attached to the mother's nipples, because they do not have a brood pouch, characteristic of marsupials. In July-August, the female leaves the cubs in the hole, coming only at night to feed them. By October, the babies grow up and switch to the usual diet for these animals, and around December they leave the parental territory and begin an independent life.

Conservation in nature

Marsupial anteaters were once found throughout South and Central Australia. Unfortunately, today these amazing animals are preserved only in some small areas of eucalyptus forests in the southwestern part of the Green Continent. Foxes, feral cats and other carnivores almost wiped out the numbats. What makes marsupial anteaters more vulnerable to predators is their diurnal lifestyle. Use of their habitats for needs agriculture also played a significant role in the disappearance of these animals.

The marsupial anteater, or nambat (Myrmecobius fasciatus) is a mammal of the family of marsupial anteaters, lives in. The marsupial anteater inhabits mainly eucalyptus and acacia forests and dry woodlands.
The dimensions of the marsupial anteater are small: body length is 17-27 cm, tail - 13-17 cm, the weight of an adult animal ranges from 280 to 550 g. The head of the marsupial anteater is flattened, the muzzle is elongated and pointed, the mouth is small. The worm-shaped tongue can protrude almost 10 cm from the mouth, the eyes are large, the ears are pointed, the tail is long and fluffy, like a squirrel. The paws of the marsupial anteater are quite short, widely spaced with strong claws, the forelimbs have 5 fingers, the hind limbs have 4 fingers.

The marsupial anteater is one of the most beautiful marsupials of Australia: It is colored greyish-brown or reddish. The fur on the back and upper thighs is covered with 6-12 white or cream stripes. The eastern nambats have a more uniform coloration than the western ones. A black longitudinal stripe is visible on the muzzle. The belly and limbs are yellow-white, buffy.

The teeth of the marsupial anteater are very small, weak and often asymmetrical: the molars on the right and left may have different lengths and width, the marsupial anteater has 50-52 teeth in total. The hard palate extends much further than in most mammals, which is typical for other “long-tongued” animals (pangolins, armadillos).

The marsupial anteater feeds almost exclusively on termites, less often on ants, and eats other invertebrates only by accident. It is the only marsupial that feeds only on social insects; in captivity, the marsupial anteater eats up to 20 thousand termites every day. The marsupial anteater searches for food using its extremely acute sense of smell. With the claws of its front paws, it digs up the soil or breaks rotten wood, then catches termites with its sticky tongue, swallowing the prey whole or after slightly chewing the chitinous shells.

The marsupial anteater is quite agile and can climb trees; at the slightest danger he hides in cover. It spends the night in secluded places (shallow burrows, tree hollows) on a bed of bark, leaves and dry grass. His sleep is very deep, similar to suspended animation. There are many cases where people, along with dead wood, accidentally burned a marsupial anteater that did not have time to wake up.

With the exception of the breeding season, marsupial anteaters remain solitary, occupying an individual territory of up to 150 hectares. When caught, the marsupial anteater does not bite or scratch, but only whistles abruptly or grumbles.
The mating season for nambats lasts from December to April. At this time, males leave their hunting areas and go in search of females, marking trees and the ground with an oily secretion produced by a special skin gland on the chest.
Tiny (10 mm long), blind and hairless cubs are born 2 weeks after mating. There are 2-4 cubs in a litter. Since the female does not have a brood pouch, they hang on the nipples, clinging to the mother’s fur. According to some reports, birth occurs in a hole 1-2 m long. The female carries the cubs on her stomach for about 4 months, until their size reaches 4-5 cm. Then she leaves the offspring in a shallow hole or hollow, continuing to come at night to feed.

By the beginning of September, young numbats begin to leave the hole for a short time. By October, they switch to a mixed diet of termites and mother's milk. The young remain with their mother for up to 9 months, finally leaving her in December. Sexual maturity occurs in the second year of life.

Due to economic development and land clearing, the number of marsupial anteater has sharply decreased. However, the main reason for the decrease in its numbers is the persecution of predators. Due to their diurnal lifestyle, marsupial anteaters are more vulnerable than most small marsupials; they are hunted birds of prey, dingoes, feral dogs and cats and especially red foxes.