Aardvarks

The aardvark truly stands alone: one species and one family in an order all its own. It lives in those parts of Africa richly supplied with its chief food: ants and termites. Once classified with anteaters and pangolins, with which it shares many physical and behavioral characteristics, the aardvark was eventually assigned to its own order when those similarities were found to be the result of convergent evolution (See Mammal Migration) rather than common origin. Possessed of a medium-sized stocky build, the aardvark (an Afrikaner word meaning "earth pig") has a long, muscular tail, donkeylike ears, a narrow snout and a long, sticky tongue specialized for catching insects underground. Its teeth, from which the order's name is derived, are tubelike molars, adapted for crushing hard-backed insects.

The Aardvark: A Family of One

order: tubulidentata

family: orycterpodidae aardvarks

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