How many baby Silky anteaters are in a litter?
A Silky anteater (Cyclopes didactylus) usually gives birth to around 1 babies.
Each of those little ones spend around 160 days as a fetus before they are released into the wild. Upon birth, they weight 275 grams (0.61 lbs) and measure 1.9 cm (0′ 1″). They are a member of the Myrmecophagidae family (genus: Cyclopes). An adult Silky anteater grows up to a size of 17.7 cm (0′ 7″).
To have a reference: Humans obviously usually have a litter size of one ;). Their babies are in the womb of their mother for 280 days (40 weeks) and reach an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″). They weight in at 62 kg (137 lbs), which is obviously highly individual, and reach an average age of 75 years.
The silky anteater (Cyclopes didactylus), also known as the pygmy anteater, is a species of anteater in the genus Cyclopes, the only living genus in the family Cyclopedidae. It is found in southern Mexico, and Central and South America. A taxonomic review in 2017, including both molecular and morphological evidence, found that Cyclopes may comprise not one species (C. didactylus), as previously thought, but at least seven. The only known extinct cyclopedid species, Palaeomyrmidon incomtus, from the Late Miocene (c. 7 to 9 million years ago) of modern-day Argentina, is thought to share common ancestry with Cyclopes. It is the smallest of all known anteaters, has nocturnal habits and appears to be completely arboreal. Its hind feet are highly modified for climbing.
Other animals of the family Myrmecophagidae
Silky anteater is a member of the Myrmecophagidae, as are these animals:
- Northern tamandua becoming 9.5 years old
- Southern tamandua with 1 babies per pregnancy
- Giant anteater with 1 babies per pregnancy
Animals that share a litter size with Silky anteater
Those animals also give birth to 1 babies at once:
- Japanese serow
- Dama gazelle
- Northern sportive lemur
- Birdlike noctule
- Asian elephant
- Black and rufous elephant shrew
- Least pipistrelle
- Lesser great leaf-nosed bat
- Black-footed mongoose
- Mexican free-tailed bat
Animals that get as old as a Silky anteater
Other animals that usually reach the age of 2.25 years:
- Hoary bat with 2.08 years
- Common opossum with 2.67 years
- Highland streaked tenrec with 2.58 years
- Asian house shrew with 2.5 years
- Southern Plains woodrat with 2.25 years
- Ningbing false antechinus with 2 years
- Fawn antechinus with 2.25 years
- Mongolian gerbil with 2 years
- Slender-tailed dunnart with 2 years
- Robinson’s mouse opossum with 2 years
Animals with the same weight as a Silky anteater
What other animals weight around 259 grams (0.57 lbs)?
- Transbaikal zokor weighting 259 grams
- Bennett’s chinchilla rat weighting 251 grams
- Roberto’s spiny rat weighting 284 grams
- Andersen’s naked-backed fruit bat weighting 233 grams
- Uinta ground squirrel weighting 307 grams
- Mentawai squirrel weighting 296 grams
- Collared tuco-tuco weighting 210 grams
- Bushy-tailed woodrat weighting 286 grams
- Yellow-faced pocket gopher weighting 267 grams
- Goeldi’s spiny rat weighting 284 grams
Animals with the same size as a Silky anteater
Also reaching around 17.7 cm (0′ 7″) in size do these animals:
- Smith’s bush squirrel gets as big as 17.2 cm (0′ 7″)
- Lesser hamster-rat gets as big as 14.9 cm (0′ 6″)
- Pale field rat gets as big as 15.1 cm (0′ 6″)
- Afghan pika gets as big as 19.7 cm (0′ 8″)
- Thomas’s rope squirrel gets as big as 18.4 cm (0′ 8″)
- Jentink’s squirrel gets as big as 21 cm (0′ 9″)
- Common treeshrew gets as big as 18.5 cm (0′ 8″)
- Brown mouse lemur gets as big as 14.3 cm (0′ 6″)
- Gray-cheeked flying squirrel gets as big as 14.2 cm (0′ 6″)
- Steinbach’s tuco-tuco gets as big as 19.6 cm (0′ 8″)