Anteaters have elongated, tapered snouts and tubular mouths. The tail is prehensile in Cyclopes and Tamandua but not in Myrmecophaga. There are two to four fingers and four or five toes. The claws on the fingers are long and sharp and can be used as powerful weapons of defense, though their usual function is the opening of ant and termite nests. The ears are short and rounded and the eyes are small.
Anteaters usually have no teeth.
The skull is elongate and would appear to be fragile, but the bony walls are thick and unusually hard. The mammae of females are located in the chest and abdominal regions. Anteaters inhabit tropical forests and savannahs, sheltering in trees, hollow logs, or burrows constructed by other animals. They feed on ants, termites, and other insects. They use their strong foreclaws to rip open ant and termite nests, and they capture the insects with their long, sticky tongue.