Pygmy Anteater Skull Replica measures 1.7 in. Pygmy Anteater Skull Replica is museum quality polyurethane resin cast. 2-part skull (separate cranium and jaw). Made in USA. Known as the Silky Anteater.

The Pygmy Anteater, is a species of anteater in the genus Cyclopes, the only living genus in the family Cyclopedidae.

Silky anteater or Pygmy Anteater are the smallest living anteaters, and have proportionately shorter faces and larger crania than other species.

Adults have a total length ranging from 14 to 18 in., including a tail 6.7 to 9.4 in. long, and weigh from 6.2 to 14.1 oz.

They have dense and soft fur, which ranges from grey to yellowish in color, with a silvery sheen. The eyes are black, and the soles of the feet are red.

The scientific name translates roughly as “two-toed circle-foot”, and refers to the presence of two claws on the fore feet, and their ability to almost encircle a branch to which the Silky anteater or Cyclopes clings.

The claws are present on the second and third toes, with the latter being much the larger. The fourth toe is very small, and lacks a claw, while the other two toes are vestigial or absent, and are not visible externally.

The Pygmy Anteater hind feet have four toes of equal length, each with long claws, and a vestigial hallux that is not externally visible.

The scientific name translates roughly as “two-toed circle-foot”, and refers to the presence of two claws on the fore feet, and their ability to almost encircle a branch to which the animal is clinging.

The claws are present on the second and third toes, with the latter being much larger. The fourth toe is very small, and lacks a claw, while the other two toes are vestigial or absent, and are not visible externally.

The hind feet of the Pygmy Anteater have four toes of equal length, each with long claws, and a vestigial hallux that is not externally visible. The ribs are broad and flat, overlapping to form an internal armored casing that protects the chest.

The ribs are broad and flat, overlapping to form an internal armoured casing that protects the chest. They have partially prehensile tails.

Silky anteater or Pygmy Anteaters are nocturnal and arboreal, found in lowland rain forests with continuous canopy, where they can move to different places without the need to descend from trees.

The silky anteater or Pygmy Anteater is a slow-moving animal and feeds mainly on ants, eating between 700 and 5,000 a day. It also feeds on other insects, such as termites and small coccinellid beetles.

The Pygmy Anteater usually dwells in silk cotton trees (genus Ceiba). Because of its resemblance to the seed pod fibers of these trees, it can use the trees as camouflage and avoid attacks of predators such as hawks and, especially, harpy eagles.

During the day, they typically sleep curled up in a ball. Although they are rarely seen in the forest, they can be found more easily when they are foraging on lianas at night.

It is a solitary animal and gives birth to a single young, up to twice a year. The young are born already furred, and with a similar colour pattern to the adults.

They begin to take solid food when they are about one-third of the adult mass. The young is usually placed inside a nest of dead leaves built in tree holes, and left for about eight hours each night.

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