Aardvark

Name The aardvark is sometimes colloquially called the "African ant bear", "anteater" (not to be confused with the South American anteaters), or the "Cape anteater". The name Orycteropus means 'burrowing foot', and the name afer refers to Africa. Taxonomy The aardvark is not closely related to the pig; rather, it is the sole extant representative of the obscure mammalian order Tubulidentata, in which it is usually considered to form one variable species of the genus Orycteropus, the sole surviving genus in the family Orycteropodidae. The aardvark is not closely related to the South American anteater, despite sharing some characteristics and a superficial resemblance. Along with sirenians, hyraxes, elephants, and their extinct relatives, these animals form the superorder Afrotheria. Studies of the brain have shown the similarities with Condylarthra. The ptolemaiidans, a clade of mammals with uncertain affinities, may actually be stem-aardvarks, either as a sister clade to Tubulidentata or as a grade leading to true tubulidentates. The first unambiguous tubulidentate was probably Myorycteropus africanus from Kenyan Miocene deposits. Subspecies The aardvark has seventeen poorly defined subspecies: • Orycteropus afer afer (Southern aardvark) • O. a. adametzi Grote, 1921 (Western aardvark) • O. a. aethiopicus Sundevall, 1843 • O. a. angolensis Zukowsky & Haltenorth, 1957 • O. a. erikssoni Lönnberg, 1906 • O. a. faradjius Hatt, 1932 • O. a. haussanus Matschie, 1900 • O. a. kordofanicus Rothschild, 1927 • O. a. lademanni Grote, 1911 • O. a. leptodon Hirst, 1906 • O. a. matschiei Grote, 1921 • O. a. observandus Grote, 1921 • O. a. ruvanensis Grote, 1921 • O. a. senegalensis Lesson, 1840 • O. a. somalicus Lydekker, 1908 • O. a. wardi Lydekker, 1908 • O. a. wertheri Matschie, 1898 (Eastern aardvark) == Description ==

The aardvark is vaguely pig-like in appearance. Its body is stout with a prominently arched back and is sparsely covered with coarse hairs. The limbs are of moderate length, with the rear legs being longer than the forelegs. Digging is also facilitated by its forearm's unusually stout ulna and radius. Body weight is typically between . It is the largest member of the clade Afroinsectiphilia. The aardvark is pale yellowish-grey in colour and often stained reddish-brown by soil. The aardvark's coat is thin, and the animal's primary protection is its tough skin. Its hair is short on its head and tail; however its legs tend to have longer hair. The teeth consist of 14 upper and 12 lower jaw molars. Its nose is made up of more turbinate bones than any other mammal, with between nine and 11, compared to dogs with four to five. The snout resembles an elongated pig snout. The mouth is small and tubular, typical of species that feed on ants and termites. The aardvark has a long, thin, snakelike, protruding tongue (as much as long) The ears, which are very effective, ==Habitat and range==

Aardvarks are found in sub-Saharan Africa, where suitable habitat (savannas, grasslands, woodlands and bushland) and food (i.e., ants and termites) is available. They spend the daylight hours in dark burrows to avoid the heat of the day. The only major habitat that they are not present in is swamp forest, as the high water table precludes digging to a sufficient depth. They have been documented as high as in Ethiopia. They can be found throughout sub-Saharan Africa from Ethiopia all the way to Cape of Good Hope in South Africa with few exceptions including the coastal areas of Namibia, Ivory Coast, and Ghana. They are not found in Madagascar. ==Ecology and behaviour==

Aardvarks live for up to 23 years in captivity. studies in the Nama Karoo revealed that ants, especially Anoplolepis custodiens, were the predominant prey year-round, followed by termites like Trinervitermes trinervoides. In winter, when ant numbers declined, aardvarks relied more on termites, often feeding on epigeal mounds coinciding with the presence of alates, possibly to meet their nutritional needs. Termite mounds alone do not provide enough food for the aardvark, so they look for termites that are on the move. When these insects move, they can form columns long and these tend to provide easy pickings with little effort exerted by the aardvark. These columns are more common in areas of livestock or other hoofed animals. Vocalisation The aardvark is a rather quiet animal. However, it does make soft grunting sounds as it forages and loud grunts as it makes for its tunnel entrance. When it is threatened it will make for one of its burrows. If one is not close it will dig a new one rapidly. This new one will be short and require the aardvark to back out when the coast is clear. Reproduction It is believed to exhibit polygamous breeding behavior. During mating, the male secures himself to the female's back using his claws, which can occasionally result in noticeable scratches. Males play no role on parental care. Aardvarks pair only during the breeding season; after a gestation period of seven months, one cub weighing around is born during May–July. When born, the young has flaccid ears and many wrinkles. When nursing, it will nurse off each teat in succession. After two weeks, the folds of skin disappear and after three, the ears can be held upright. After 5–6 weeks, body hair starts growing. It is able to leave the burrow to accompany its mother after only two weeks and eats termites at nine weeks, and is weaned between three months and 16 weeks. 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 mature from approximately two years of age. ==Conservation==

Aardvarks were thought to have declining numbers, Nocturnal species faced with resource scarcity may increase their diurnal activity to spare the energy costs of staying warm at night, but this comes at the cost of withstanding high temperatures during the day. A study on aardvarks in the Kalahari Desert saw that five out of six aardvarks being studied perished following a drought. Aardvarks adapt well to captivity. The first recorded instance was at London Zoo in 1869, which housed an individual from South Africa. == Mythology and popular culture ==

In African folklore, the aardvark is 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 parents' permission. Some tribes, such as the Margbetu, Ayanda, and Logo, The ancient Egyptian god Set is usually depicted with the head of an unidentified animal, whose similarity to an aardvark has been noted in scholarship. The fictional character Arthur Read and his family from the children's book series by Marc Brown, as well as the animated adaptation Arthur, is an aardvark. In the first book of the series, ''Arthur's Nose'' (1976), he has a long, aardvark-like nose, but in later books, his face becomes more rounded. The 1969–1971 cartoon film series The Ant and the Aardvark portrayed a blue aardvark character trying to catch and eat a red ant character. The series became extremely popular on television when paired with NBC's The Pink Panther Show. In BBC Radio's The Goon Show of the 1950s, aardvarks regularly appeared, with humorous phrases such as "spotted aardvark pudding" or "how to make your aardvark soft again". ==Footnotes==