Anteaters live in the Americas, primarily across Central and South America. Their habitats range from southern Mexico through Central America to northern Argentina and Paraguay. Different species of anteaters have specific habitat preferences:
- Giant anteaters live in grasslands, savannahs, forests, and sometimes timber plantations across Central and South America, particularly from Honduras to Bolivia and northern Argentina.
- Northern tamanduas inhabit various forest types—including tropical, subtropical, deciduous, and evergreen forests—from southern Mexico through Central America to northern South America.
- Southern tamanduas occupy tropical rainforests, savannahs, thorn scrub, and riverine areas with dense vegetation in South America, including the island of Trinidad.
- Silky anteaters live in semi-deciduous and evergreen tropical moist lowland forests and mangrove areas from southern Mexico southward to Bolivia and Brazil.
Anteaters are found in diverse habitats such as tropical savannahs, rainforests, grasslands, mangroves, and wetlands, adapting to their environments with some species being mainly arboreal (like the silky and tamandua anteaters) and others primarily terrestrial (like the giant anteater).
