From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

	This article is part of WikiProject Argentina, an attempt to expand, improve and standardise the content and structure of articles related to Argentina If you would like to participate, you can improve Anteater, or sign up and contribute in a wider array of articles like those on our to do list.
???	This article has not yet received an importance rating.
Start	This article has been rated as Start-Class on the quality scale.

Anteater is included in the 2006 Wikipedia CD Selection, or is a candidate for inclusion in the next version. Please maintain high quality standards and, if possible, stick to GFDL-compatible images.

[edit] Numbat Population

Prior to my most recent edit, the section "Similar Animals" included the following text:

• The Numbat (Myrmecobius fasciatus), a marsupial, formerly called the Banded Anteater. This species is very endangered. There only about 3 left in the world

While I'm not an expert on the actual Numbat population, I could find no other source that supported such a small population, and in fact Wikipedia's own Numbat article does not make this claim. Consequently, I have removed the reference to "only about 3". If you replace this in the article, please add a citation to go with it. 168.12.253.82 14:24, 5 June 2006 (UTC)

No animal can have only three in the world, even the most endangered have at least 100 in the wild!163.21.216.253 06:35, 12 June 2006 (UTC)

That's not true. There was for instance onely one Spix's Macaw left in the wild. Being endangered means you have a high risk to get extinct, and animals are dying out as we speak. And to remind you: for a species to get extinct you have to have less than 100 individuals for at least a small period of time. It's quite unusual for a population to drop from 100 to 0 in a second.

By the way, the numbat is quite rare, but not that rare. Probably the writer of the text meant that there are only about 3 populations left in the world. The Claw 10:16, 24 August 2006 (UTC)

OK, I frogot about the Spix's macaw, but it's still true that numbats aren't THAT rare! Dora Nichov 09:32, 26 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] By the Number

That "30000 ants a day"? I've seen as high as 75000. Can somebody confirm? Or make it a range? Also, I've seen (somewhere...) they actually feed more in trees than on the ground... Trekphiler 20:38 & 20:45, 16 October 2006 (UTC)

Well, giant anteaters are 100% terrestrial, but tamanduas and silky anteaters definitely spend more time in trees. In fact, the silky anteater almost never reaches the ground. Dora Nichov 09:51, 5 November 2006 (UTC)