Access Cookbook

Colophon

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The animal on the cover of Access Cookbook is a northern tamandua. The tamandua is also known as the collared, or lesser, anteater. There are two species of tamandua: the northern tamandua (Tamandua mexicana), found in Central America and the northwestern part of South America; and the southern tamandua (Tamandua tetradactyla), which can be found further south. Tamanduas have coarse, yellowish or brownish fur with black markings and are about half the size of their rarer relatives, the giant anteaters (Myrmecophaga tridactyla). They can grow to be about 60 centimeters long, with a prehensile tail of approximately the same length, and reach weights of 6–13 pounds.

Tamanduas are occasionally found on the ground, but they prefer living in the trees, where they hunt for ant and termite nests. Like all anteaters, tamanduas have long snouts and extremely long tongues that they use to collect and eat their prey. Since no teeth are necessary for this kind of meal, anteaters’ teeth have been reduced during their evolution. However, unlike the completely toothless giant anteaters, tamanduas still have some small teeth remaining (these are useful for consuming the fruits that supplement their diets). They use the sharp claws on their front ...