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Please help improve this article by introducing appropriate citations of additional sources. | The Aardvark (Orycteropus afer) ("Digging foot"), sometimes called "antbear"[1] is a medium-sized mammal native to Africa. The name comes from the Afrikaans/Dutch for "earth pig" (aarde earth, varken pig), because early settlers from Europe thought it resembled a pig. However, the Aardvark is not closely related to pigs, being placed in its own order. Look up aardvark in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
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The conservation status of a species is an indicator of the likelihood of that species continuing to survive either in the present day or the future. ...
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Least Concern (LC) is an IUCN category assigned to extant species or lower taxa which have been evaluated but do not qualify for any other category. ...
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For other uses, see Animal (disambiguation). ...
Typical Classes See below Chordates (phylum Chordata) are a group of animals that includes the vertebrates, together with several closely related invertebrates. ...
Subclasses & Infraclasses Subclass †Allotheria* Subclass Prototheria Subclass Theria Infraclass †Trituberculata Infraclass Metatheria Infraclass Eutheria Mammals (class Mammalia) are warm-blooded, vertebrate animals characterized by the presence of sweat glands, including milk producing sweat glands, and by the presence of: hair, three middle ear bones used in hearing, and a neocortex...
Orders See Below Afrotheria is a clade of mammals with the rank of superorder or cohort, containing (among others) the moles, shrews, aardvarks, hyraxes, elephants and manatees. ...
Thomas Henry Huxley PC, FRS (4 May 1825 Ealing – 29 June 1895 Eastbourne, Sussex) was an English biologist, known as Darwins Bulldog for his advocacy of Charles Darwins theory of evolution. ...
Year 1872 (MDCCCLXXII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a leap year starting on Saturday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ...
John Edward Gray. ...
Year 1821 (MDCCCXXI) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ...
Georges Cuvier Baron Georges Léopold Chrétien Frédéric Dagobert Cuvier (August 23, 1769–May 13, 1832) was a French naturalist and zoologist. ...
Year 1798 (MDCCXCVIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Friday of the 11-day slower Julian calendar). ...
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Peter Simon Pallas (September 22, 1741 - September 8, 1811) was a German-born Russian zoologist. ...
1766 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ...
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Subclasses & Infraclasses Subclass †Allotheria* Subclass Prototheria Subclass Theria Infraclass †Trituberculata Infraclass Metatheria Infraclass Eutheria Mammals (class Mammalia) are warm-blooded, vertebrate animals characterized by the presence of sweat glands, including milk producing sweat glands, and by the presence of: hair, three middle ear bones used in hearing, and a neocortex...
A world map showing the continent of Africa Africa is the worlds second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. ...
Look up Wiktionary:Swadesh lists for Afrikaans and Dutch in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation). ...
For other uses, see Pig (disambiguation). ...
In scientific classification used in biology, the order (Latin: ordo, plural ordines) is a rank between class and family (termed a taxon at that rank). ...
Description One of the most distinctive characteristic of the Tubulidentata is (as the name implies) their teeth. Instead of having a pulp cavity in their tooth, they have a number of thin tubes of dentine, each containing pulp held together by cementum. The teeth have no enamel coating and are worn away and regrow continuously. The Aardvark is born with conventional incisors and canines at the front of the jaw, which fall out and are not replaced. Adult Aardvarks only have molars at the back of the jaw. Genetically speaking, the Aardvark is a living fossil, as its chromosomes are highly conserved, reflecting much of the early eutherian arrangement before the divergence of the major modern mammalian taxa.[2] The dental pulp is the part in the center of a tooth made up of living soft tissue and cells called odontoblasts and others. ...
Dentin (BE: dentine) is the name of substance between the enamel (crown) or cementum (root) of a tooth and the pulp chamber. ...
Cementum is a specialized bony substance covering the root of a tooth. ...
Genera Alopex Atelocynus Canis Cerdocyon Chrysocyon Cuon Dusicyon Fennecus Lycalopex Lycaon Nyctereutes Otocyon Pseudalopex Speothos Urocyon Vulpes Canidae is the family of carnivorous and omnivorous mammals commonly known as canines. ...
For other uses, see Gene (disambiguation). ...
A scheme of a condensed (metaphase) chromosome. ...
Eutheria is a taxon (specifically, an infraclass) nearly synonymous with Placentalia, containing the placental mammals and the nearest ancestors of placental mammals (which are known only from the fossil record). ...
A taxon (plural taxa), or taxonomic unit, is a grouping of organisms (named or unnamed). ...
The Aardvark is vaguely pig-like. Its body is stout with an arched back and is sparsely covered with coarse hairs. The limbs are of moderate length. The front feet have lost the pollex (or 'thumb') — resulting in four toes — but the rear feet have all five toes. Each toe bears a large, robust nail which is somewhat flattened and shovel-like, and appears to be intermediate between a claw and a hoof. The ears are disproportionately long, and the tail is very thick at the base and gradually tapers. The greatly elongated head is set on a short, thick neck, and the end of the snout bears a disc, which houses the nostrils. The mouth is small and tubular, typical of species that feed on termites. The aardvark has a long, thin, protruding tongue and elaborate structures supporting a keen sense of smell. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1600x970, 610 KB) This page may meet Wikipedia’s criteria for speedy deletion. ...
Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1600x970, 610 KB) This page may meet Wikipedia’s criteria for speedy deletion. ...
Olfaction (also known as olfactics) refers to the sense of smell. ...
An aardvark's weight is typically between 40 and 65 kg. An aardvark's length is usually between 1 and 1.3 meters, and can reach lengths of 2.2 meters[1] when its tail (which can be up to 70 centimeters)[1] is taken into account. The aardvark is pale yellowish gray in color,and often stained reddish-brown by soil. The aardvark's coat is thin and the animal's primary protection is its tough skin. The aardvark has been known to sleep in a recently excavated ant nest, which also serves as protection. The number of aardvarks has nearly doubled since 2002, scientists say.
Behavior The Aardvark is nocturnal and is a solitary creature that feeds almost exclusively on ants and termites (formicivore); the only fruit eaten by aardvarks is the aardvark cucumber. An aardvark emerges from its burrow in the late afternoon or shortly after sunset, and forages over a considerable home range encompassing 10 to 30 kilometers,[1] swinging its long nose from side to side to pick up the scent of food. When a concentration of ants or termites is detected, the Aardvark digs into it with its powerful front legs, keeping its long ears upright to listen for predators, and takes up an astonishing number of insects with its long, sticky tongue — as many as 50,000 in one night have been recorded. It is an exceptionally fast digger, but otherwise moves fairly slowly. Its claws enable it to dig through the extremely hard crust of a termite mound quickly, avoiding the dust by sealing the nostrils. When successful, the aardvark's long (as long as 30 centimeters)[1] tongue licks up the insects; the termites's stinging attacks are rendered futile by the tough skin. Its keen hearing warns it of predators: lions, leopards, hyenas, and pythons. A nocturnal animal is one that sleeps during the day and is active at night - the opposite of the human (diurnal) schedule. ...
For other uses, see Ant (disambiguation). ...
Families Mastotermitidae Kalotermitidae Termopsidae Hodotermitidae Rhinotermitidae Serritermitidae Termitidae Termites, sometimes known as white ants, are a group of social insects usually classified at the taxonomic rank of order Isoptera. ...
For other uses, see Fruit (disambiguation). ...
Binomial name Cucumis humifructus The aardvark cucumber (Cucumis humifructus), also known as aardvark pumpkin, is a kind of cucumber from Southern Africa which fruits underground. ...
Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ...
Families Mastotermitidae Kalotermitidae Termopsidae Hodotermitidae Rhinotermitidae Serritermitidae Termitidae Reference: Earthlife as of 2002-07-26 A termite (also known as a white ant) is any member of the order Isoptera, a group of social insects that eat wood and other cellulose-rich vegetable matter. ...
Orders Subclass Apterygota Symphypleona - globular springtails Subclass Archaeognatha (jumping bristletails) Subclass Dicondylia Monura - extinct Thysanura (common bristletails) Subclass Pterygota Diaphanopteroidea - extinct Palaeodictyoptera - extinct Megasecoptera - extinct Archodonata - extinct Ephemeroptera (mayflies) Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) Infraclass Neoptera Blattodea (cockroaches) Mantodea (mantids) Isoptera (termites) Zoraptera Grylloblattodea Dermaptera (earwigs) Plecoptera (stoneflies) Orthoptera (grasshoppers, crickets...
Aside from digging out ants and termites, the aardvark also excavates burrows in which to live: temporary sites are scattered around the home range as refuges, and a main burrow is used for breeding. Main burrows can be deep and extensive, have several entrances and can be as long as 13 meters. The Aardvark changes the layout of its home burrow regularly, and from time to time moves on and makes a new one; the old burrows are then inhabited by smaller animals like the African Wild Dog.[1] Only mothers and young share burrows. If attacked in the tunnel, it will seal the tunnel off behind itself or turn around and attack with its claws. Binomial name (Temminck, 1820) African Wild Dog range The African Wild Dog, Lycaon pictus, also known as the African Hunting Dog, Cape Hunting Dog, Painted Dog, or Painted Wolf, is a carnivorous mammal of the Canidae family. ...
Aardvarks only pair during the breeding season; after a gestation period of 7 months, a single cub weighing around 2 kg is born, and is able to leave the burrow to accompany its mother after only two weeks, and is eating termites at 14 weeks and is weaned by 16 weeks.[1] At six months of age it is able to dig its own burrows, but it will often remain with the mother until the next mating season, and is sexually capable by the season after that. Gestation is the carrying of an embryo or fetus inside a female viviparous animal. ...
Estrus (also spelled œstrus) or heat in female mammals is the period of greatest female sexual responsiveness usually coinciding with ovulation. ...
Aardvarks can live to be over 24 years old in captivity.[1] The term captivity is used to refer to the following meanings: the state of being confined to a space from which it is hard or impossible to escape; see imprisonment. ...
The aardvark's main predators are lions, leopards, hunting dogs and pythons. Aardvarks can dig fast or run in zigzag fashion to elude enemies, but if all else fails, they will strike with their claws, tail and shoulders, sometimes flipping onto their backs to lash with all fours. Their thick skin also protects them to some extent.
Habitat Aardvarks live in Subsaharan Africa, where there is suitable habitat for them to live, such as savannas, grasslands, woodlands and bushland, and available food (i.e., ants and termites). Sub-Saharan Africa, Africa south of the Sahara Desert, is the term used to describe those countries of Africa that are not part of North Africa. ...
Savannah redirects here. ...
The Konza tallgrass prairie in the Flint Hills of northeastern Kansas. ...
Limber Pine woodland, Toiyabe Range, central Nevada Biologically, a woodland is a treed area differentiated from a forest. ...
The term bushland usually refers to an area that has only a sparse flora and fauna. ...
Mythology In African folklore the aardvark is much admired because of its diligent quest for food and its fearless response to soldier ants. Hausa magicians make a charm from the heart, skin, forehead, and nails of the aardvark, which they then proceed to pound together with the root of a certain tree. Wrapped in a piece of skin and worn on the chest the charm is said to give the owner the ability to pass through walls or roofs at night. The charm is said to be used by burglars and those seeking to visit young girls without their parent's permission.[citation needed] The Hausa are a people of northern Nigeria and south-eastern Niger. ...
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