Click for printable version
Click to send to a friend

Renowned Connection

Local museum displays traveling anteater exhibit on loan from Smithsonian

Anteaters easily could be one of those animals made by committee: a 2-foot long tongue, long snout, no teeth and claws that could rip your arm open.

They will eat other bugs, but for an entree they try to stick to a cuisine consisting of ants and termites.

For an up-close look, the Las Vegas Natural History Museum has imported a traveling exhibit on the animal from the Smithsonian Institution.

"Anteaters: Fast Food Specialists" features a five-sided kiosk that includes a diorama of a stuffed anteater, a video about the creatures, and photos and informational tidbits. The exhibit will be at the museum until Dec. 31.

"This is our first affiliation with the Smithsonian," says Marilyn Gillespie, museum director. "We went through a lot of scrutiny before it would allow us to have the exhibit. We hope to have more in the future."

Found in Central and South America, the anteater is not to be confused with the aardvark, another ant-eating critter whose home is Africa. Anteaters are related to the sloth, the armadillo, the numbat, scaly anteater and the spiny anteater.

There are three kinds of anteaters.

The northern tamandua (tamandua Mexicana) goes after ants and termites on the ground and in trees, using a strong, prehensile tail and buffed arms to climb trees. It's adept at tearing apart nests.

The giant anteater (myrmecophaga tridactyla) is gray and has a bushy tail. It dwells on the ground in the forests and grasslands of South America, and is known for its swimming ability. Its young cubs ride on the mother's back. Giant anteaters are becoming rare in some areas because of the trade in exotic pets and the destruction of habitats. A giant anteater eats as many as 30,000 ants or termites per day, but he has to watch out for spiny ants and ants that sting.

And the silky anteater (cyclopes didactylus) is the smallest anteater at about 15 inches long. It has a very small snout and can be found high up in forests going after termites.

All three feature strong claws and long, sticky tongues.

The museum doesn't have an anteater in its collection, and the exhibit is a way to add variety to the collection for a while.

"This is an opportunity for us to present an animal we don't normally have," Gillespie says. "One of the museum's strong points is change. We build our own exhibits, but we try to have traveling exhibits, too, something different when people come here."

While the anteater preys on termites and ants, the anteaters' natural enemy is the jaguar.

Other exhibits at the private, nonprofit museum include animated dinosaurs, an Africa room in the basement, plants and wildlife native to Southern Nevada, a live shark exhibit and a children's hands-on exploration room.

Admission is $5.50 for adults; $4.50 for seniors, students 13 and older and military; and $3 for children 4-12.

Children 3 and younger and museum members are admitted free.

The "Anteaters: Fast Food Specialists" kiosk, on loan from the Smithsonian Institution, will be at the Las Vegas Natural History Museum through December.
Photo by Christine H. Wetzel.

what: "Anteaters: Fast Food Specialists"
when: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily
where: Las Vegas Natural History Museum, 900 Las Vegas Blvd. North
tickets: $3-$5.50 (384-3466)