11 Common Misconceptions About Anteaters (And You Probably Believed #7!)

11. Anteaters Are Unintelligent Animals

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The last prevalent fallacy is that anteaters' specialized food and apparently basic behavior patterns make them dumb animals. This cannot be any more from the truth. Remarkable spatial memory and problem-solving skills enable anteaters to recall the places of successful feeding stations over their vast home ranges. They have shown they can learn from experience, avoiding dangerous areas they have come to and returning to good feeding sites. Their foraging approach calls for sophisticated decision-making concerning which insect nests to target and when to proceed to other feeding locations. They also exhibit advanced social behaviors, especially in mother-infant pairings where young anteaters pick up vital survival skills via observation and experience. Their cognitive ability is demonstrated by their capacity to survive in several habitats and adapt to changing surroundings.