Neither; it was a Southern Tamandua, a type of Anteater, sleeping on a branch! Anteaters are not animals you see every day, even in the Amazon. The Southern Tamandua is mostly arboreal, meaning it likes to hang out in trees. After all, trees are the best places to find what this anteater loves most: termite nests! In the flooded forest, termites and ants build their nests high up in the trees to escape the seasonal flooding. An anteater's diet consists mainly of ants and termites. They have a specially-developed long, thin snout that is used to prod into nests of termites and ants to extract the insects. Once the snout is inside the nest, the tamandua sticks out its extremely long tongue which is coated in a sticky saliva. The insects stick to the tongue, and the tamandua has a tasty dinner.

The Southern Tamandua, unlike the giant anteater, has a prehensile tail. This means that the tail can hold onto tree branches while the anteater is prying around a termite nest.

Anteaters have strong claws that can be used to rip open termite nests and also to defend themselves against predators like the harpy eagle, jaguar, or the mighty caiman.

Anteaters are very slow moving animals with a very low metabolism. This is good because although termites and ants are plentiful, they don't provide a very nutritious, high-energy diet. So the next time your mom or dad tries to feed you fried termites for dinner, tell them that a plate of spaghetti might be more nutritious.

Staying Cool,

Patrick