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Evolution Keeps Producing Anteaters, and New Research Finally Reveals the Strange Reason Why
The Debrief ^ | July 19, 2025 | Micah Hanks

Posted on 07/21/2025 12:43:59 PM PDT by Red Badger

New research tracing the evolutionary history of animals that subsist on ants and termites has revealed that creatures with such unique appetites have evolved at least a dozen times, offering researchers a glimpse into the influence social insects have had on the adaptation of mammals.

The field of myrmecophagy, which deals with animals that consume ants and termites, has now been revealed to be a significant driver of evolutionary adaptations across a wide array of mammalian species.

These adaptations, which include hallmarks such as elongated tongues and fewer teeth in ant-eating mammals, emerged in response to the unique challenges associated with feeding on these small, yet protein-rich, social insects.

By combining insights from the fossil record with ecological data spanning nearly 4,000 mammal species, recent work, detailed in a new research study, now unites the evolution of these unique traits with the rise of social structures in ants and termites over time, with origins dating back to the Cenozoic era.

The Surprising Influence of Social Insects

Despite their modest size and reputations for often becoming unwanted pests when found within our homes, ants and termites have played a surprisingly dominant role as ecological forces throughout time, often playing a critical role in shaping many terrestrial environments.

Primarily, these insects have at times acted as powerful agents of natural selection, as species known as obligate myrmecophages possess distinctive traits that make them suited for bulk feeding, including their long, sticky tongues and reduced (or even absent) teeth.

An anteater seen in the wild in Brazil (Image Credit: Nareeta Martin/Unsplash)

Today’s anteaters, which fall within the suborder Vermilingua, are the most commonly recognized variety, comprising four different species: the giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla), the silky anteater (Cyclopes didactylus), the southern tamandua (Tamandua tetradactyla), and the northern tamandua (Tamandua mexicana). Each of these four primary species belongs to the order Pilosa, which also includes sloths.

Although anteaters are commonly grouped alongside other mammals that consume social insects like aardvarks and echidnas, they aren’t closely related to them. The perceived similarities are more a result of convergent evolution in response to similar ecological niches, which can often produce creatures from vastly different areas of the animal kingdom that still bear striking superficial similarities.

Anteaters Evolving by the Dozen

The new research focuses on specialized feeding on ants and termites, arguing that it has independently evolved at least a dozen times across known mammal species.

Generally stemming from insectivorous or carnivorous ancestors, the researchers note that there was one instance where a rare evolutionary reversal appears to have occurred, involving a species that transitioned away from consuming social insects. This singular case seems to suggest that once an animal lineage becomes specialized, it is likely difficult for them to revert following the gradual acquisition of such specialized anatomical and behavioral traits.

Intriguingly, although an abundance of ants and termites exist in the modern world, the study team’s findings suggest that their presence as a specialized food source is a relatively recent development, evolutionarily speaking. While both lineages—ants and termites—date back to the Cretaceous, it wasn’t until the Cenozoic era that they became ecologically dominant, forming large colonies that could support dedicated mammalian predators.

Fundamentally, the study’s findings offer an evolutionary framework that unites the emergence of social insects with repeated and diverse instances of myrmecophagy in mammals, revealing a dynamic relationship and showcasing the deeply intertwined evolutionary histories of insects and animals.

In the case of tiny organisms like ants and termites, the research also reveals how deeply influential they can be—even as a mere food source—capable of shaping the biology of predators that consume them across periods of millions of years.

The new study, “Post K-Pg rise in ant and termite prevalence underlies convergent dietary specialization in mammals,” appeared in the International Journal of Organic Evolution on July 16, 2025.

Micah Hanks is the Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder of The Debrief. He can be reached by email at micah@thedebrief.org. Follow his work at micahhanks.com and on X: @MicahHanks.


TOPICS: History; Outdoors; Pets/Animals; Weather
KEYWORDS: ants; godsgravesglyphs; myrmecophagy; termites

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To: Red Badger

Strangely enough, aardvarks do not appear to be evolving in a fashion similar to anteaters.

21 posted on 07/21/2025 2:58:33 PM PDT by Charles Martel (Progressives are the crab grass in the lawn of life.)
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To: Red Badger

Because ants are delicious?


22 posted on 07/21/2025 3:23:13 PM PDT by Jonty30 (French doors are called French doors because you walk like a Frenchmen when you open them. )
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To: Charles Martel
I thought everything evolved into crabs? Make up yer melons..

On a side note, do ya ever notice that the Aardvark sound a lot like Bernie Sanders? d;^)

23 posted on 07/21/2025 3:45:52 PM PDT by CopperTop (Outside the wire it's just us chickens. Dig?)
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To: Red Badger

“Evolution” is currently producing new species? I’d love to see an example of a new “anteater” recently produced by “evolution.”


24 posted on 07/21/2025 3:59:52 PM PDT by Theo (FReeping since 1997 ... drain the swamp.)
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To: CopperTop

I remember the ant sounding kind of like Dean Martin. If they were deliberately mimicking celeb voices, maybe the aardvark was supposed to sound like Jackie Mason (which is definitely like Bernie, but amusing).


25 posted on 07/21/2025 4:11:55 PM PDT by Charles Martel (Progressives are the crab grass in the lawn of life.)
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Trouble all around [2006/02/10]
Doctor Fun Archive

26 posted on 07/21/2025 5:27:00 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (The moron troll Ted Holden believes that humans originated on Ganymede.)
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To: Red Badger; StayAt HomeMother; Ernest_at_the_Beach; 1ofmanyfree; 21twelve; 24Karet; ...

27 posted on 07/21/2025 5:27:04 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (The moron troll Ted Holden believes that humans originated on Ganymede.)
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To: Red Badger

Too long to read, but let me guess... Too many ants?


28 posted on 07/21/2025 5:44:34 PM PDT by Bullish (My tagline ran off with another man, but it's ok---- I wasn't married to it.)
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To: Red Badger
Because when a food source is abundant there will be things to eat them?

Or do I not understand the question?

29 posted on 07/21/2025 5:46:43 PM PDT by Harmless Teddy Bear ( Not my circus. Not my monkeys. But I can pick out the clowns at 100 yards.)
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To: Red Badger

All we are is dust in the wind….


30 posted on 07/21/2025 6:41:53 PM PDT by Salamander (Please visit my profile page to help me go home again. https://www.givesendgo.com/GCRRD)
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To: Red Badger

The poor little things probably can’t yawn.

https://www.euclidlibrary.org/sites/default/files/migrated//giant-anteater-tongue.jpg


31 posted on 07/21/2025 6:47:31 PM PDT by Salamander (Please visit my profile page to help me go home again. https://www.givesendgo.com/GCRRD)
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To: Salamander
Natural selection. The ladies favored the ones with longer tongues...

I'm soooo dead for saying that!

32 posted on 07/21/2025 8:00:10 PM PDT by null and void (Democrats: fake news, fake presidents, fake beliefs, fake policies, fake protesters & fake voters!)
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To: Salamander

“the ANTswer my FRiend, is blowing in the wind”.


33 posted on 07/21/2025 9:52:22 PM PDT by lightman (Beat the Philly fraud machine the Amish did onest, ja? Nein, zweimal they did already!)
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To: Fungi

the animals with survival skills survive

the animals without survival skills do not

where are the slow rabbits?

they were lunch

not even a chance to hump


34 posted on 07/22/2025 9:05:52 AM PDT by joshua c
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