• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
Zippy Facts Logo

Zippy Facts

Interesting Random Facts

  • Animals
  • Culture
  • Firsts
  • Food
  • Geography
  • Health
  • History
  • Inventions
  • Language
  • Mythology
  • Odds
  • People
  • Religion
  • Science
  • Space
  • Universe
  • World
You are here: Home / Animals / What Animal Has No Teeth or Jaws, But Can Still Eat?

What Animal Has No Teeth or Jaws, But Can Still Eat?

May 20, 2020 by Karen Hill

There are many animals without teeth, but almost every animal has some kind of jaws it can open and close to take in food. Except the anteater!

This strange-looking creature from South America appears to have no mouth, for his snout is shaped like a tube and contains neither teeth nor jaws.

Then how does the anteater eat? . . . With his tongue! The anteater’s tongue is very long, sometimes over a foot in length, and very sticky. The anteater searches for an ant hill, rips it open with his paws, and licks up dozens of ants with a single swipe of his tongue. Then the anteater sucks his tongue back into his tube-like snout and swallows the ants in one gulp!

A creature that eats only ants may seem harmless, but the anteater is strong and vicious. He has sharp claws on his front feet and a sharp spine behind those claws that can punch a hole in an animal’s flesh. And the giant anteater may be as big as a bear!

Related Facts

  • Which Other Mammals Lose Their Baby Teeth Like Humans Babies and Why Do We Have Baby Teeth?
  • What Is an Aardvark?
  • How do paleontologists know what a particular species of dinosaur ate during the Mesozoic era?
  • Why do Leaf-Cutter Ants Cut Up and Transport Fresh Leaves back to their Nests if they Don’t Eat them?
  • What are “wisdom” teeth and why do we remove them?
  • How do crocodiles clean their teeth and Do crocodiles grow new teeth?

Filed Under: Animals

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

Previous Post: « Do All Animals Eat?
Next Post: Do Hibernating Animals Eat At All During the Winter? »

Footer

Follow

  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • GitHub
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Medium
  • Pinterest
  • StumbleUpon
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Categories

Accomplishments Animals Culture Firsts Food Geography Health History Inventions Language Mythology Odds People Religion Science Space Universe World Your Body

About

Zippy Facts empowers the world by serving educational content that is accessible to everyone.

A tribute to growing up, zippyfacts.com showcases interesting and unusual facts about the world.

Our mission is to use technology to facilitate knowledge transfer and sharing.

Copyright © 2020 Zippy Facts

  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy