Cyclopes didactylus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Voss, Robert S. & Fleck, David W., 2017, Mammalian Diversity And Matses Ethnomammalogy In Amazonian Peru Part 2: Xenarthra, Carnivora, Perissodactyla, Artiodactyla, And Sirenia, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2017 (417), pp. 1-1 : 1-

Cyclopes didactylus (Linnaeus, 1758)

VOUCHER MATERIAL (TOTAL = 2): Nuevo San Juan (AMNH 268232; MUSM 11093).

OTHER RECORDS: None.

IDENTIFICATION: The pygmy (or “silky”) anteaters currently recognized as Cyclopes didactylus cannot be confused with any other mammal, although it seems highly probable that they comprise a species complex rather than a single species ( Coimbra et al., 2017). Among the numerous

epithets currently treated as synonyms or subspecies of C. didactylus (see Gardner, 2008) are several that might apply to the population that occurs in the Yavari-Ucayali interfluve, but available museum specimens are too few and widely scattered to attempt a revision for this report.

Our two voucher specimens have co-ossified occiputs but unfused braincase and facial sutures. AMNH 268232 consists only of a skull, but MUSM 11093 includes a skin. The pelage of the latter specimen is silvery grayish-brown dorsally and lacks any distinct markings, although the fur is noticeably browner over the head, shoulders, and upper back, whereas the lower back and rump are grayer; the ventral fur is abruptly self-beige over the chest and abdomen, but brownish on the throat. Measurements of MUSM 11093 are: headand-body length, 182 mm; length of tail, 229 mm; hind foot, 43 mm; ear, 16 mm; condylonasal length, 50.1 mm; nasal length, 14.0 mm; least interorbital breadth, 9.4 mm (measured just anterior to small postorbital processes); anterior zygomatic breadth, 14.2 mm; posterior zygomatic breadth, 22.5 mm; breadth of braincase, 22.9 mm. This specimen weighed 286 g.

ETHNOBIOLOGY: The pygmy anteater is generally called tsipud, which is not analyzable and has no cognates in other Panoan languages. In some villages the term tsekeded is used instead. Tsekeded is an onomatopoetic representation of the “purr” that the pygmy anteater makes when disturbed. A few Matses consider tsekeded to be a synonym of tsipud. No subtypes are recognized. Some Matses consider it to be a type of sloth, while others consider it to be more closely related to tamanduas.

The pygmy anteater is not hunted, eaten, or kept as a pet.

It is a death omen to come across a pygmy anteater. If a person comes in contact with one, his children are very likely to fall ill with excessive sleepiness and fever (symptoms similar to those caused by two-toed sloths). Men with children will not even look at them.

MATSES NATURAL HISTORY: The pygmy anteater is like a baby two-toed sloth, but has a tail. Its tail has a hairless patch (the ventral prehensile surface). The soles of its feet are hairless and reddish. Its eyes are small and its nose is pink. It is pretty and its fur is like cotton.

Pygmy anteaters are usually found perched on thin vines in open forest. They can be found high or low in the canopy. They sit on branches that hang over large streams.

Pygmy anteaters are nocturnal. During the day they forage along vines and thin trees. They stop to rest frequently, perching in the same position as two-toed sloths.

Pygmy anteaters are generally solitary, but occasionally two are found near each other.

A pygmy anteater may curl up and cover its face with its front paws when it is scared.

When knocked off its perch or poked with a stick, a pygmy anteater purrs loudly, saying “tsequededededed.”

Its diet is not known by the Matses.

REMARKS: Most of what little the Matses have to say about the pygmy anteater agrees with the sparse natural history literature on this species (reviewed by Hayssen et al., 2012), although no vocalizations seem to have been reported previously.