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Noun: anteater  'ant,ee-tu(r)
  1. Toothless mammal of southern Africa and Asia having a body covered with horny scales and a long snout for feeding on ants and termites
    - pangolin, scaly anteater
     
  2. Any of several tropical American mammals of the family Myrmecophagidae which lack teeth and feed on ants and termites
    - New World anteater
     
  3. Nocturnal burrowing mammal of the grasslands of Africa that feeds on termites; sole extant representative of the order Tubulidentata
    - aardvark, ant bear, Orycteropus afer
     
  4. Small Australian marsupial having long snout and strong claws for feeding on termites; nearly extinct
    - numbat, banded anteater, Myrmecobius fasciatus
     
  5. A burrowing monotreme mammal covered with spines and having a long snout and claws for hunting ants and termites; native to New Guinea
    - echidna, spiny anteater
     
  6. A burrowing monotreme mammal covered with spines and having a long snout and claws for hunting ants and termites; native to Australia
    - echidna, spiny anteater

Derived forms: anteaters

Type of: dasyurid, dasyurid marsupial, edentate, egg-laying mammal, eutherian, eutherian mammal, monotreme, placental, placental mammal

Part of: family Myrmecophagidae, genus Manis, genus Myrmecobius, genus Orycteropus, genus Tachyglossus, genus Zaglossus, Manis, Myrmecobius, Myrmecophagidae, Orycteropus, Tachyglossus, Zaglossus

Encyclopedia: Anteater