The aardvark cucumber (Cucumis humifructus), also known as aardvark pumpkin, is a kind of cucumber from Southern Africa which fruits underground. It is the only fruit eaten by aardvark, which normally feeds exclusively on ants and termites. Aardvarks eat the fruit for its water content, and propagate the seeds through their feces. The !Kung San bushmen of South Africa know the plant as aardvark dung. Scientific classification or biological classification is how biologists group and categorize extinct and living species of organisms (as opposed to folk taxonomy). ... Divisions Green algae land plants (embryophytes) non-vascular embryophytes Hepatophyta - liverworts Anthocerophyta - hornworts Bryophyta - mosses vascular plants (tracheophytes) seedless vascular plants Lycopodiophyta - clubmosses Equisetophyta - horsetails Pteridophyta - true ferns Psilotophyta - whisk ferns Ophioglossophyta - adderstongue ferns seed plants (spermatophytes) †Pteridospermatophyta - seed ferns Pinophyta - conifers Cycadophyta - cycads Ginkgophyta - ginkgo Gnetophyta - gnetae Magnoliophyta - flowering... Classes Magnoliopsida- Dicots Liliopsida- Monocots The flowering plants (also called angiosperms) are a major group of land plants. ... Magnoliopsida is the botanical name for a class: this name is formed by replacing the termination -aceae in the name Magnoliaceae by the termination -opsida (Art 16 of the ICBN). ... Families Cucurbitaceae (gourd family) Begoniaceae (begonia family) Datiscaceae Tetramelaceae Corynocarpaceae Coriariaceae Anisophylleaceae The Cucurbitales are an order of flowering plants, included in the rosid group of dicotyledons. ... Genera Abobra Acanthosicyos Actinostemma Alsomitra Ampelosycios Anacaona Apatzingania Apodanthera Bambekea Benincasa Biswarea Bolbostemma Brandegea Bryonia Calycophysum Cayaponia Cephalopentandra Ceratosanthes Chalema Cionosicyos Citrullus Coccinia Cogniauxia Corallocarpus Cremastopus Ctenolepis Cucumella Cucumeropsis Cucumis Cucurbita Cucurbitella Cyclanthera Dactyliandra Dendrosicyos Dicoelospermum Dieterlea Diplocyclos Doyerea Ecballium Echinocystis Echinopepon Edgaria Elateriopsis Eureiandra Fevillea Gerrardanthus Gomphogyne Gurania Guraniopsis... Binomial nomenclature Cucumis sativus Ref: ITIS 22364 The cucumber is the edible fruit of the cucumber plant Cucumis sativus, which belongs to the gourd family Cucurbitaceae, as do melons and squash. ... In biology, binomial nomenclature is the formal method of naming species. ... Binomial nomenclature Cucumis sativus Ref: ITIS 22364 The cucumber is the edible fruit of the cucumber plant Cucumis sativus, which belongs to the gourd family Cucurbitaceae, as do melons and squash. ... Binomial name Orycteropus afer (Pallas, 1766) The Aardvark (Orycteropus afer) is a medium-sized mammal native to Africa. ... Ants are one of the most successful groups of insects in the animal kingdom and are of particular interest because they are a social insect and form highly organized colonies or nests, sometimes consisting of millions of individuals. ... Families Reticulitermes spp. ... The !XÅ©, or !Kung as it is also spelled in English, are a people living in the Kalahari Desert in Namibia. ...

External links

• Description in Flora Zambesiaca
• Aardvark and cucumber: a remarkable relationship

Literature

• van Rheede van Oudtshoorn, K. and van Rooyen, M.W. 1999. Dispersal Biology of Desert Plants. Adaptations of Desert Organisms. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.