Tamandua tetradactyla (Tamandua Anteater)

Von Scheidel worked closely with Baron Nicolaus Joseph von Jacquin (1727-1817), who was commissioned by the Emperor Franz Josef of Austria to collect plants and animals in the American tropics. He collaborated with von Jacquin on his second project for the Emperor, the five-volume Flora Austricia and the three-volume Hortus Botanicus Vindobonensis. The Tamandua is one of four species of anteater. They extend from southern Mexico as far south as northern Argentina. Like all species of anteater, the Tamandua lacks teeth and exists on a diet of ants and termites. The middle toes of the forefeet are armed with long sharp claws which are used to tear open the nests of ants and termites. As a result Tamanduas walk on their knuckles and the sides of their forefeet, with the claws curled inwards. The animal has a prehensile tail which has no fur on the underside in order to assist climbing.