Anteaters are so named because they eat white termites. Few people realize that anteaters have no teeth. Their jawbones protrude and are almost entirely covered with skin, making their oral cavities very small. An anteaters covered with adhesive saliva to hold termites on touch, can be tongue, extended a long way beyond its mouth. Then the animal draws it back and swallows. Although some termites build sizable mud nests, the anteater's powerful front paws have lengthy claws that can tear open the termites' nests, either on the ground or in trees.