Aardvarks facts
- The Aardvark is a medium-sized, burrowing, nocturnal mammal native to Africa.
- The name ‘aardvark’ means ‘earth pig’, though the species is not even remotely related with pigs. The animal has a bulky body, with a humped back, which is similar to that of a rodent, with much less hair.
- It is sometimes called "antbear", "anteater", "Cape anteater" (after the Cape of Good Hope), "earth hog" or "earth pig".
- In the dry season, an aardvark mainly feeds on termites, while it survives on ants and other soft-bodied insects in the rainy season. The animal travels long distances to forage in night. Once it finds a termite nest, it keeps on feeding on the same, for many nights.
- The word "aardvark" is famous for being one of the first entries to appear in many encyclopaedias and even abridged dictionaries.
- Aardvark’s head is long and narrow, shaping a tubular snout in the end. It has very long ears, which can move independently of each other. Its mouth has 20 teeth, located near the back of the jaws. An aardvark’s teeth grow continuously, without any roots and enamel.
- The closest living relatives of the aardvark are the elephant shrews, along with the sirenians, hyraxes, tenrecs, and elephants.
- Though aardvarks mostly remain silent, they are known to squeal, similar to the way pigs do, when disturbed due to any reason. They are known to be solitary creatures.
- 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 taxa.
- Aardvarks have a number of natural enemies, such as dogs, pythons, cheetahs, leopards, lions, and rattles.
- The breeding habits of aardvark are not known in detail. The young ones are born in the months of October and November and weight around 4-5 lbs at the time of birth. The young aardvark stays in the burrow for 2 weeks, after which it begins to venture out.
- The eyesight of aardvarks is poor in daylight, though their sense of smell and hearing is good. These animals have a clumsy walk, but they can run very fast when required. Once they are halfway down their burrow, it is next to impossible to pull them out.
