and termites. When the insects rush out,
the anteaters eat them with their long,
sticky tongues.
Anteaters live in the swamps and forests
of Central and South America. They are
related to sloths and armadillos, which
also live in Latin America.
True Anteaters
There are four species, or types, of anteater.
They make up a scientific group
called Vermilingua, which means
worm-tongue.
The largest species is the giant anteater.
From the tip of its snout to the end of
its tail, the giant anteater is about 6 feet
(1.8 meters) long. Its coat is mostly gray,
and its long tail is bushy. It feeds on the
ground by day and by night.
There are two different species of lesser
anteater, or tamandua, but they look
very similar. Lesser anteaters are only
about half the length of giant anteaters.
They also have shorter muzzles. Lesser
anteaters have tan, black, or tan-andblack
coats. They live in trees and feed at
night. They use their long, nearly hairless
tails to climb on tree branches.
The silky, or two-toed, anteater is the
smallest of the group. It is the size of a
squirrel. It has a silky, yellowish coat and
a long, furry tail. Like lesser anteaters,
the silky anteater lives in trees and feeds
at night.
Other Animals Called
Anteaters
People sometimes call other insecteating
animals anteaters, but these animals
are not related to true anteaters.
They include the numbat (or banded
anteater), the aardvark (or ant bear), the
echidna (or spiny anteater), and the
pangolin (or scaly anteater).
#More to explore
Armadillo Sloth
Antelope
Antelopes are a group of plant-eating
mammals that belong to the same family
as sheep, goats, and cattle. The impala,
the addax, gazelles, gnus, and kudus are
all antelopes. The pronghorn, or prongbuck,
is also known as an antelope, but
it belongs to a different family.
Antelopes live on the large, grassy plains
of Africa and in the central and southwestern
regions of Eurasia (the continents
of Europe and Asia). Only the
pronghorn is found in North America.
The giant
anteaters
tongue can be
as long as 24
inches (60
centimeters).
giant anteater
138 Anteater BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA
Antelopes are generally about the same
size as most goats and deer. They have
hooves on their feet. Their coats are generally
golden, reddish tan, or gray. The
face, belly, and rump tend to be white.
Most male antelopes have horns that
curve backward.
Antelopes have excellent senses of smell
and hearing. These help them to detect
danger and leap to safety. The impala
can make leaps as long as 30 feet (9
meters). Antelopes can also run very
fast. One type of gazelle can run 50
miles (80 kilometers) per hour.
Antelopes generally travel in herds of
several hundred animals. During the
mating season, male antelopes mark
their territory by rubbing their scent
glands against plants and trees. A male
will fight other male antelopes to defend
his territory. The male then attracts a
female, or doe, and they mate. The doe
gives birth to one young about four to
eight months later, depending on the
type of antelope.
#More to explore
Hoof Horn Mammal
Anthem,
National
#see National Anthem.
Anthony,
Susan B.
In the 1900s women in the United
States fought to gain equal rights with
men. One of the leaders of that movement
was Susan B. Anthony.
There are many different kinds of antelope. They include the blackbuck, which is found in
India; the saiga from elsewhere in Asia; and the gerenuk, Thomsons gazelle, common
eland, impala, and suni from Africa. In most of these animals only the males have horns.
BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Anthony, Susan B. 139
Susan Brownell Anthony was born on
February 15, 1820, in Adams,
Massachusetts. When she was 6 years
old her family moved to Battenville,
New York. As a young woman she
taught school.
In the 1850s Anthony became involved
in both the temperance movement,
which fought alcohol abuse, and the
abolitionist movement, which sought to
end slavery. She traveled widely, spoke at
public meetings, and began to take an
interest in womens issues.
At the time, women in the United States
did not have the right to vote. To fight
this injustice, Anthony and her friend
Elizabeth Cady Stanton formed the
NationalWoman Suffrage Association
(NWSA) in 1869. Suffrage means the
right to vote.
To draw attention to the struggle,
Anthony tried to vote in the 1872 presidential
election. She was arrested, but
she refused to pay her fine. In 1890 the
NWSA merged with another group to
form the National AmericanWoman
Suffrage Association. Anthony was president
from 1892 to 1900.
Susan B. Anthony died on March 13,
1906, in Rochester, New York. In 1920
the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
gave voting rights to women in
all states.
#More to explore
Abolitionist Movement Stanton,
Elizabeth Cady Womens Rights
Anthropology
Anthropology is the study of human
beings and their cultures, from
prehistoric times to today. The people
who practice anthropology are called
Susan B. Anthony
Some anthropologists study how certain
groups of people live. They may travel to
remote places, such as the Ituri Forest in
central Africa, to observe these groups.
140 Anthropology BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA
anthropologists. Anthropologists often
compare different human communities.
They try to determine their similarities
and differences. By doing this,
anthropologists hope to increase their
knowledge about humanity as a whole,
as well as about specific groups of
people.
Anthropology has two main divisions:
physical and cultural. Physical anthropologists
study the physical features of
humans. Cultural anthropologists examine
human cultures. Both these kinds of
anthropology may include the study of
prehistoric, ancient, and modern
humans.
Physical Anthropology
Physical anthropology is related to the
science called biology. Physical anthropologists
examine differences in human
physical features. They often study
human genes. These are the things that
pass along traits from parents to their
children. They may also measure the
shape, size, and structure of body parts
or properties such as blood types.
Some physical anthropologists compare
the physical features among people from
different geographic areas. Others may
examine what makes humans physically
different from other animals, such as
apes. Some physical anthropologists
study the remains of prehistoric humans
to learn about human origins. They try
to determine how and when modern
humans developed from early forms of
humans and from nonhuman ancestors.
In other words, they study human evolution.
In the past, some physical
anthropologists divided people into
races. They ranked the races based on
such features as skull size and skin
color. They thought that some races
were better than others. However, that
idea came from prejudices, not from
true science. In the late 20th century
anthropologists found that modern
humans are all very similar in their