how does the structure of an ant eater realate to its function?

Question

i need to know why the ant eater has such a long trunk..the structure of their body parts and how they relate the the functions they perform

Answer 1

Its food consists mainly of termites, which it obtains by opening their nests with its powerful sharp anterior (front) claws. As the insects swarm to the damaged part of their dwelling, it draws them into its mouth by means of its long, flexible, rapidly moving tongue covered with sticky saliva. A full-grown giant anteater eats upwards of 30,000 termites a day.

The largest representative of the group is the giant anteater, or ant-bear (Myrmecophaga tridactyla), an animal measuring 4 feet (1.2 m) in length, excluding the tail, and 2 feet (60 cm) in height at the shoulder. It has a long, thin head and a large, bushy tail. Its prevailing color is gray, with a broad black band, bordered with white, starting on the chest, and passing obliquely over the shoulder, diminishing gradually in breadth as it approaches the loins, where it ends in a point.

Answer 2

Ever saw an ant or termite nest?They have holes in them which are used by the insects to enter or leave the nest.The ant eater has a long snout and long sticky tongue to put into the nest through the holes so termite or ants may get stuck to their tongue so that they can eat them.Sometimes the holes are too small for the tongue to enter,thats why they have large claws on their front paws.They use these large claws to crack up the nest so that it can put its tongue into the nest,that way ants or termites get stuck to its tongue and then the ant eater can eats them.

Answer 3

Its food consists mainly of termites, which it obtains by opening their nests with its powerful sharp anterior (front) claws. As the insects swarm to the damaged part of their dwelling, it draws them into its mouth by means of its long, flexible, rapidly moving tongue covered with sticky saliva. A full-grown giant anteater eats upwards of 30,000 termites a day.

The giant anteater lives above ground, not burrowing underground like armadillos. Though generally an inoffensive animal, when attacked it can defend itself with its sabre-like anterior claws. The female produces one offspring per birth.

Pangolins hunt by breaking into large termite or ant colonies with their front claws. Some species, such as the Tree Pangolin, use their strong tails to hang from tree branches and strip away bark from the trunk, exposing insect nests inside.
Pangolins are also called scaly anteaters.
Pangolins lack teeth and the ability to chew. Instead, they tear open anthills or termite mounds with their powerful front claws and probe deep into them with their very long tongues. Pangolins have an enormous salivary gland in their chests to lubricate the tongue with sticky, ant-catching saliva.

Answer 4

Hi. The anteater has a long tongue to get into ant burrows. This feature serves two purposes - the food it eats can be more easily accessed and it gets to the front of the dictionary.

Answer 5

A nice long snout and tongue to stick into small places and lick out all those tasty ants.

Big claws, which are used for pulling apart nests so the ants can be reached.

Thick skin and hair to protect from nasty biting ants.