Animals of South America facts

Its bite feels like a bullet. The ant named on account of its powerful and potent sting. It inhabits humid lowland rain forests from Nicaragua to Brazil, where it is often called "Hormiga Veinticuatro" or "24 (hour) ant", referring to the "waves of burning, throbbing, all-consuming pain that continues unabated for up to 24 hours".

Maned wolf. The maned wolf's markings resemble those of foxes, but it is not a fox, nor is it a wolf, as it is not closely related to other canids.

Food. Guinea Pig is traditional food in the Andes. Peruvians consume an estimated 65 million guinea pigs each year. Since the 1960s, efforts have been made to increase consumption of the animal outside South America.

Sloths. Research conducted in a nesting site in Brazil concluded that the harpy's prey basis was composed in 79% by sloths. In a similar research venture in Panama, 53% of captures were sloths.

In South America. Electric eels inhabit muddy waters of the Amazon and Orinoco basins floodplains and swamps. Fortunately, these are remote and uninhabited areas, as electric eels can easily kill a human. Although it doesn't eat such large animals (it has no teeth and can swallow only small mammals), a series of electric shocks is enough to stun and drown a horse.

The Andes. Guinea pigs are neither pigs nor from Guinea. The origin of its common name is unclear, it may be a re-analysis of "Guyana", though they originate from the Andes and not Guyana.