Description

Food and Feeding. Probably strictly myrmecophagous; genera preyed upon are arboreal ants (Crematogaster and Cataulacus). In captivity, does not usually accept termites. Ants are eaten on trees. Tree nests are broken or taken down with forefoot claws, and attacked from all sides, until ants fall down; a tunnel may be dug inside the nests. Nests generally are not destroyed, and thus constitute continuous feeding sources that are visited regularly. Uses olfaction to forage, and extracts ants using the protractile part of the tongue (16 - 18 cm long). Distal part of the tongue is different from that of M. tricuspus: it is flattened, not pointed, and has an oval cross-section; it has a zone of 4 cm covered with bristles 1 mm long, pointing backwards. The tongue is attached behind the larynx and trachea to a characteristically modified xiphisternum (xiphoid process). Xiphoid cartilages form two elongated bars that extend from the sternum to the pelvic region.

Common Names

Taxonomic Hierarchy

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Mammalia

Order: Pholidota

Family: Manidae

Genus: Manis

Species: Manis tetradactyla Linnaeus, 1766