They live in tropical and subtropical forests from southern Mexico, through Central America, and to the edge of the northern Andes.

[2] The northern tamandua is a medium-sized anteater with a prehensile tail, small eyes and ears, and a long snout.

Some southern tamandua populations are entirely pale, pale with an incomplete vest, or dark-colored; however, others have the same black vest as northern tamandua, and are more reliably distinguished by size, ear length, various differences in skull shape, and number of tail vertebrae (as well as location, as the two species' ranges don't overlap).

The entire oral cavity is modified to accommodate this tongue, and is so elongated that the back of the soft palate is level with the fifth cervical vertebra near the base of the neck, rather than at the top of the pharynx as in most other mammals.

The muscles of the toes and the presence of a tough pad on the palms makes the forefeet prehensile, enabling them to grip onto projections as it climbs.

[4] The northern tamandua inhabits forests from southern Mexico, through Central America to western Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador, and the northwestern corner of Peru.

[4] Northern tamanduas subsist almost entirely on diets of ants and termites, although they have also been observed to eat small quantities of fruit.

[4] With no defined breeding season for northern tamanduas, females appear to be able to enter oestrus at any time of year.