Aardvark

From Wikipedia, a free encyclopedia written in simple English for easy reading.

A drawing of two aardvarks.
Enlarge
A drawing of two aardvarks.

The Aardvark (Orycteropus afer) is a mammal from Africa. Its name means "earth pig" in the language Afrikaans.

Contents

[edit] Taxonomy

  • Order Tubulidentata
    • Family Orycteropodidae
      • Genus Orycteropus
        • Species Orycteropus afer

The Aardvark is the only surviving member of the family Orycteropodidae and of the order Tubulidentata.

The Aardvark looks a bit like other animals, like the South American anteaters but they are not related.

[edit] Appearance

Adult aardvarks weighs about 50 Kilograms (110 pounds) and a little more than one meter (45 inches) long.

[edit] Life

Aardvarks eat mostly ants and termites. They have a long sticky tongue which makes it easy to pick up many ants at once.

Aardvarks are nocturnal, which means they are awake at night and asleep during the day.

[edit] External Links

Look up Orycteropus afer in Wikispecies, a directory of species


Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
Orycteropus afer