I know what you’re thinking. “Are you sure anteaters and aardvarks aren’t the same thing?” I get it because if there’s two animals that look similar in my head it’s these two. But it turns out that they’re much different from each other. And if we’re being honest, the physical differences between them are just so obvious.
Overview
Aardvarks are in the order Tubulidentata and the family Orycteropodidae. Anteaters are in the order Pilosa and the suborder Vermilingua. Thus, though they may look similar, they’re not family. Not even distant cousins. Aardvarks are more closely related to elephant shrews and anteaters are related to sloths.
There’s only one species of aardvark, which is the Orycteropus afer, while there are 4 anteater species. They’re known as the giant anteater, northern tamandua, southern tamandua, and silky anteater. Despite their misleading name, pangolins, or scaly anteaters, aren’t anteaters at all.
Physical Appearance
Aardvarks: The first thing you’ll notice about the aardvark is their nose, which resembles the snout of a pig. In addition to the tubular snout, they’ve got a stout body and their shoulders are arched. Their ears are large and their thick tail gets smaller at the end. An aardvark’s fur is also very short, which makes it perfect for them as they hate the sun. Lastly, their little claws are sharp and perfect for digging.
Anteaters: First of all, they’ve got long tongues – and when I say long, I mean it. Giant anteaters are one of the animal species with the longest tongues. Their snouts are long, their tails are bushy, and they’ve got a diagonal black and white stripe over their shoulders. Unlike the aardvark, the anteater has got dense and shaggy fur and their long claws curl underneath their paws. They walk around on their knuckles.
Size
Aardvarks: They’re mostly bigger and heavier than anteaters. The only existing aardvark species can weigh up to 180 lbs. and measure up to 7.2 feet, including their tail.
Anteaters: They’re generally smaller than aardvarks at 140 lbs., but the giant anteater can be longer from nose to tail (up to 8 feet). Then, there’s the super tiny silky anteater, which only reaches a maximum weight of 0.8 lbs. (14 ounces).
Behavior
Aardvarks: They’re nocturnal animals, so they’re active at night. Aardvarks are also quiet and solitary, except during mating season, and they make a bleating sound when frightened. They enjoy coming out during the day to sun themselves and they’re mostly very on edge because of their poor eyesight.
Anteaters: In contrast to aardvarks, they’re diurnal, with the exception of a few nocturnal anteaters that live near humans or in hot regions. They’re solitary from the moment that they’re old enough to leave their mothers but they also come together during mating season. They sleep with their tails over their faces and they curl up in depressions, which tells me that they’re either sensitive or shy. You won’t be able to miss the bellowing noise that comes out of a frightened giant anteater, or the shrill that a young anteater lets out, but they’re usually quiet.
Habitat
Aardvarks: They live in sub-Saharan Africa, where they prefer to nest in savannas, woodlands, grasslands, and even bushlands. If there’s enough food and a suitable nesting spot, like in the Congo Basin, you’ll find them there. It’s also interesting to note that they mostly live in very hot regions, but they prefer to hide underground during the day to avoid the sun.
Anteaters: You’ll find them in Central and South America, where they stay in mostly the same types of habitats. They also live in wetlands, tropical forests, shrublands, and flooded grassy plains. It differs slightly according to the species. Giant anteaters live in large areas that have forested patches and timber plantations.
Diet
Aardvarks: Aardvarks are insectivores, and they eat more than anteaters because they consume around 50,000 ants in a single night. Yes, fifty thousand. They dig the insects out of the ground with their claws and then they slurp them up with their long tongues.
Anteaters: Their main diet also consists of ants and termites, but they only consume roughly 30,000 per day. They use their claws to rip open the nests and their sticky tongues to ingest the insects. Giant anteaters may snack on fruits and lick plants to stay hydrated.
Conservation Status
Aardvarks: They’re one of the most elusive animal species, but that doesn’t mean their population is at risk. Aardvarks in drier regions in Africa are threatened by things like climate change and their numbers are slightly decreasing. However, the rest of the world’s aardvarks are safe because they’re classified as least concern.
Anteaters: The giant anteater is vulnerable, with only about 5,000 left in the wild. They face threats like habitat destruction, fire, and poor reproduction. Sadly, this has led to complete extinction of the species in areas of Belize, Guatemala, Uruguay, and Costa Rica. The other 3 species are classified as least concern, so they aren’t in any danger at the moment.
Other Differences
Predators: Both aardvarks and anteaters are preyed upon, but by different animals. The aardvark needs to avoid lions, pythons, spotted hyenas, and even humans. Apparently, they’ve got tasty meat, and their tails are a sort of delicacy. The anteater on the other hand gets preyed upon by pumas and jaguars.
Tunnels: Aardvarks dig tunnels and make dens, but anteaters prefer to stay above ground level.
Similarities
Smell: The Southern Tamandua is one of the world’s smelliest animals. But it’s not just them. All anteater species have a strong and horrible scent because they use their anal glands to mark their territory. Aardvarks are also very smelly because termites spray them with a chemical and their anal glands also emit a smelly secretion.
Senses: As if it’s not bad enough that these animals smell foul, it turns out that they’ve both got a very good sense of smell. Fortunately, they’ve got poor vision. This means they can’t always see who’s smelling bad, but they still walk around with their own smell in their noses.
Hunting: Anteaters and aardvark both use their front claws and long nails to dig into the ground and break open termite/ant nests.
