Mammals · Pilosa · Cyclopedidae

Common Silky Anteater

Cyclopes didactylus

Least Concern

The species is abundant and widely distributed; it faces no significant short-term risk. See full glossary

The pygmy anteater, golden anteater or silky anteater is a species of anteater. It was formerly regarded as the only species in the genus Cyclopes, native to Central America and the Amazon rainforest, and belongs to the family Cyclopedidae. However, a genetic and morphological study published in 2017 established that this is one of seven species in the genus, native to territories in South America bounded by the Orinoco basin, the Rio Negro, the Amazon, the Xingu basin and the Atlantic coastal forests, between north-eastern Brazil, Venezuela, the Guianas and Trinidad and Tobago. In Mexico it is considered to be in danger of extinction.

Weight

150 g – 400 g

Size

16 cm – 21 cm

Lifespan

5 years

Diet

Insectivore

Feeds mainly on insects and other invertebrates.

Activity

Nocturnal

Active mainly at night.

Social structure

Solitary

Lives and hunts alone, joining others only to breed.

Sighting difficulty

Easy

RainforestInsectivore Nocturnal Solitary Rainforest Mammal

15countries 35parks

Fun facts

Its camouflage is textbook: it rests among the opened pods of the ceiba, or kapok tree, whose silky fibre is exactly the same golden shade as its fur.
It eats almost nothing but ants, on the order of several thousand a day, and visits many nests briefly rather than exhausting a single one.

Life cycle & biology

Skeleton type: Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (mammal)
Habitat & environment: Canopy and middle storey of rainforest, mangroves and gallery forest of tropical America
Gestation / incubation: 4.4 months
Litter / clutch size: 1

Sources consulted: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclopes_didactylus