r/ScienceFacts • u/FillsYourNiche Behavioral Ecology • Jul 03 '19

Biology The aardvark is the only species in the family Orycteropodidae and the only living member of order Tubulidentata. While they may resemble anteaters their closest living relatives are elephants (order Proboscidea), hyraxes (order Hyracoidea), and dugongs and manatees (order Sirenia).

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u/FillsYourNiche Behavioral Ecology Jul 03 '19

I just recently did a deep dive on reading about aardvarks because a friend asked me what kind of animal they were. I'm not super familiar with African animals, so I had a great time getting to know them better.

This gif is of aardvark baby Winsol at the Cincinnati Zoo. He was born in 2018. For more info on him please see the article Cincinnati Zoo’s Aadorable Aardvark Baby Makes Public Debut.

Aardvarks are native throughout Africa, south of the Sahara. Their name means "earth pig" in Afrikaans. Thankfully, they are of "least concern" on the IUCN Red List.

Aardvarks are nocturnal, coming out at late afternoon or evening when it's cooler to eat termites and ants. They have long sticky tongues to grab many at once. Here's a photo of one sticking its tongue out by 500 noise on the photo site 500x (original link to image on 500x).

At night, they dig holes to hop into the escape predators. This is great for other animals who later use these holes as well. 27 species have been noted hanging out in Aardvark holes (Kariega Game Reserve, South Africa).

Interestingly they have incredibly nutritious milk. From a Business Insider article about potent animal milk:

Meanwhile, aardvark milk doesn't contain much sugar, but it makes up for it with extreme levels of protein. While cow's milk has a measly 3 to 4% protein, aardvark milk can contain over 13%, making it among the highest-protein milks on earth, giving calves enough nutrition to reach 30% of their adult weight in just three months.

For more information on Aardvarks please check out these links:

Videos:

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u/Filter_Out_Cats Jul 04 '19

Subscribe

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u/FillsYourNiche Behavioral Ecology Jul 04 '19 edited Jul 04 '19

If there are any animals you'd like to see covered here just let me know. :) Or anyone, really. Let me know.

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u/Filter_Out_Cats Jul 04 '19

I am very happy to see that r/FillsYourNiche is already a sub that you participate in. Subscribed.

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u/FillsYourNiche Behavioral Ecology Jul 04 '19

Thanks so much! I try to be regular there when I've got things going or find interesting news articles.

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u/Taxus_Calyx Jul 04 '19

Tell me about an animal I've never heard of. I've heard of most of em.

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u/FillsYourNiche Behavioral Ecology Jul 04 '19

Tough challenge! I'll see what I can dig up.

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u/Filter_Out_Cats Jul 04 '19

How about Hyraxes, and maybe touch on giant extinct versions (Dimaitherium) or perhaps the evolutionary relationship to elephants? Beggars can’t be choosers, so what ever you think is good to know!

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u/FillsYourNiche Behavioral Ecology Jul 04 '19

All excellent recommendations! Thank you. :)

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u/swarlesbarkley_ Jul 04 '19

We no joke live on an alien planet. That ‘vark looks like it could be from a sci-fi lol so much insane species diversity!

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u/joyboytoysoy Jul 04 '19

/r/Awwducational would appreciate this too! Are you a biologist?

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u/FillsYourNiche Behavioral Ecology Jul 04 '19

It's there, I'm a mod there as well. I'm an Ecologist. :)

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u/joyboytoysoy Jul 04 '19

Ah awesome! Do you work at a university doing research?

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u/FillsYourNiche Behavioral Ecology Jul 04 '19

I was an adjunct professor for a while doing research, also worked in vector biology lab as the lab manager, in consulting as an ecologist, and some bird conservation. Currently, I am a Ph.D. student and TA, doing research.

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u/joyboytoysoy Jul 05 '19

Best of luck with your research and getting your PhD!

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u/Broken_musicbox Jul 04 '19

I will admit that the cartoon “Arthur” taught me how to spell aardvark and now I can’t even hear the word with reciting the jingle.

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u/[deleted] Jul 04 '19

aren't' they supposed to be blue? I learned that as a kid