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ant-eater

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“

Another strange beast is the porcupine ant-eater, or Tasmanian hedgehog.

—Harper's Young People, March 2, 1880 An Illustrated Weekly

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Definitions (3)

American Heritage Dictionary

Century Dictionary (2)

An animal that feeds upon ants: a name applied to several mammals and birds. Specifically— In Mammalia: (1) plural The South American edentate quadrupeds of the suborder Vermilinguia and family Myrmecophagidæ, of which there are three genera and several species, having a slender elongated head, perfectly toothless jaws, and a very long extensile tongue, which is covered with viscid saliva, by means of which the insects are caught. The principal species are the ant-bear or tamanoir, or the great or maned ant-eater, Myrmecophaga jubata; the collared ant-eater or tamandu, Myrmecophaga tamandua or Tamandua bivittata or tetradactyla; and the little or two-toed ant-eater, Cyclothurus didactylus, an arboreal species with a prehensile tail. (2) The African aardvark, ground-pig, or ant-bear, Orycteropus capensis, with probably another species, O. æthiopicus, of the family Orycteropodidæ; and suborder Fodientia. Both are also known as Cape ant-eaters. See cut under aardvark. (3) plural The pangolins or scaly ant-eaters, of the family Manidæ and suborder Squamata, including some six or eight species of Asia and Africa, of the genera Manis, Pholidotus, and Smutsia. See cut under pangolin. (4) plural The Australian marsupials of the genus Myrmecobius, as M. fasciatus. (5) The monotrematous mammal Echidna hystrix, known as the aculeated or porcupine ant-eater, and other species of the genus Echidna. See cut under Echidnidæ. In ornithology, an ant-bird, ant-catcher, or ant-thrush. See ant-thrush.—
King of the ant-eaters a South American bird of the family Formicariidæ and genus Grallaria; the Grallaria rex or G. varia, formerly Turdus rex.

GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

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Examples

Another strange beast is the porcupine ant-eater, or Tasmanian hedgehog. — Harper's Young People, March 2, 1880 An Illustrated Weekly
The duck-bill is a near kinsman of the porcupine ant-eater. — Harper's Young People, March 2, 1880 An Illustrated Weekly
The insect was a species of ant-eater. — The Gorilla Hunters
On another occasion he met with a formidable-looking but comparatively harmless animal, called the great ant-eater. — Martin Rattler
I followed out of mere curiosity, and found that the lazy rascals had shoved the body into an ant-eater's hole in order to save the trouble of digging a grave. " — Hunting the Lions

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