Category:Aardvark

Majority of content from 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica

(Meaning "earth pig"), the Iyutch name for the mammals of genus Orycteropus, confined to Africa (see EDEN-TATAI. Several species have been named. Among them is the typical form, O. capensis, or Cape ant-bear from South Africa, and the northern aardvark (O. aethiopicus) of north-eastern Africa, extending into Egypt. In form these animals are somewhat pig-like; the body is stout, with arched back; the limbs are short and stout, armed with strong, blunt claws; the ears disproportionately long; and the tail very thick at the base and tapering gradually.  The greatly elongated head is set on a short thick neck, and at the extremity of the snout is a disk in which the nostrils open.  The mouth is small and tubular, furnished with a long extensile tongue.  The measurements of a female taken in the flesh, were head and body 4 ft., tail 17 1/2 in.; but a large individual measured 6 ft. 8 in. over all.  In color the Cape aardvark is pale sandy or yellow, the hair being scanty and allowing the skin to show; the northern aardvark has a still thinner coat, and is further distinguished by the shorter tail and longer head and ears.  These animals are of nocturnal and burrowing habits, and generally to be found near anthills. The strong claws make a hole in the side of the anthill, and the insects are collected on the extensile tongue. Aardvarks are hunted for their skins; but the flesh is valued for food, and often salted and smoked.