Aardvarks

Aardvarks

Aardvark

The word ‘Aardvark’ literally means ‘earth pig’. Aardvarks are insectivorous mammals found in much of sub-Saharan Africa. On the basis of similar diet and morphology Aarvarks were once classified as close to South American anteaters and pangolins, but it is now accepted that these similarities are the result of convergent evolution rather than common descent.

Aardvarks are members of the order Tubulidentata. This order order of mammals contains the smallest number of extant species – one. (Molecular evidence is divided, and suggests possible common ancestry with elephants and sea cows, or perhaps elephant shrews.) The family Orycteropodidae has three members: Leptorycteropus, Myorycteropus, and Orycteropus (the Greek etymology means, very roughly, ‘shovel-foot’). Only the last, the Orycteropus is presently extant. The number of sub-species is uncertain.

Aardvarks have poor eyesight and are color blind, but have acute hearing and sense of smell.
Aardvarks are nocturnal (spending the day in a burrow), and generally solitary.
Aardvarks are highly adapted burrowers, and are reported to be capable swimmers.
Some aardvarks may have unorthodox metaphysical committments.

Aardvark links:

http://www.calacademy.org/research/bmammals/afrotheria/Tubulidentata.html

http://www.ultimateungulate.com/Tubulidentata/Orycteropus_afer.html

http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/chordata/mammalia/tubulidentata.html

Some aardvark-related readings:

Arnason, U., A. Gullberg, and A. Janke. (1999) The mitochondrial DNA molecule of the aardvark, Orycteropus afer , and the position of the Tubulidentata in the eutherian tree. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series B: Biological Sciences; 266(1417): 339-345.

Bernard, R. T. F., and D. Peinke. (1993) Is the orientation of aardvark diggings into termitaria optimal? Naturwissenschaften; 80(9): 422-424.

Dean, W. R. J., and W. R. Siegfried. (1991) Orientation of diggings of the aardvark . Journal of Mammalogy; 72(4): 823-824

Dene, H., M. Goodman, D. A. Walz, and A. E. Romero-Herrera. (1983) The phylogenetic position of aardvark (Orycteropus afer ) as suggested by its myoglobin. Hoppe Seyler's Zeitschrift fuer Physiologische Chemie; 364(11): 1585-1596.

Happold, D. C. D. (1973) Large Mammals of West Africa. London: Longman Group, Ltd.

Hauber, K. (1995) Hand rearing Orycteropus afer at the Philadelphia Zoo. Animal Keepers' Forum; 22(9): 378-384.

Kingdon, J. (1997) The Kingdon Field Guide to African Mammals. Academic Press, London and New York: NaturalWorld.

MacPhee, R.D.E. (1994) Morphology, adaptations, and relationships of Plesiorycteropus, and a diagnosis of a new order of eutherian mammals. Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. 220.

Madsen, O., P. M. T. Deen, G. Pesole, C. Saccone, and W. W. De Jong. (1997) Molecular evolution of mammalian aquaporin-2: Further evidence that elephant shrew and aardvark join the paenungulate clade. Molecular Biology and Evolution; 14(4): 363-371.

Masopustova, R., J. Masopust, and E. Kus. (1992) The first Czechoslovak rearing of aardvark ,Orycteropus afer at Prague Zoo. Ziva; 40(4): 184-186.

McNab, B. K. (1984) Physiological convergence among ant-eating and termite-eating mammals. Journal of Zoology, London; 203(4): 485-510.

Meester, J. (1971) Order Tubulidentata. In: Meester, J. and Setzer, H. W., (Eds.) The mammals of Africa: an identification manual . Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington D.C.

Meester, J. A. J., Rautenbach, I. L., Dippenaar, N. J., & Baker, L. M. (1986) Classification of Southern African Mammals. Transvaal. Museum. Monogr .5: 182.

Melton, D. A., and C. Daniels. (1986) A note on the ecology of the aardvark Orycteropus afer. South African Journal of Wildlife Research; 16(3): 112-114.

Murphy, W. J., E. Eizirik, W. E. Johnson, Ya Ping Zhang, O. A. Ryder, and S. J. O'Brien. (2001) Molecular phylogenetics and the origins of placental mammals. Nature; 409 (6820): 614-618.

Nel, P. J., A. Taylor, D. G. A. Meltzer, and M. A. Haupt. (2000) Capture and immobilisation of aardvark (Orycteropus afer ) using different drug combinations. Journal of the South African Veterinary Association; 71(1): 58-63.

Nowak, R. M. [editor]. (1991) Walker's Mammals of the World (Fifth Edition). Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.

Patterson, B. (1975) The fossil aardvarks (Mammalia: Tubulidentata). Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. 147: 185-237.

Patterson, B. (1978) Pholidota and Tubulidentata. In Maglio, V. J., and Cooke, H. B. S. (eds.), Evolution of African Mammals . Harvard University Press, Cambridge, pp. 268-278.

Pickford, M. (1996) Tubulidentata (Mammalia) from the Middle and Upper Miocene of southern Namibia. Comptes Rendus de l'Academie des Sciences Serie II A Sciences de la Terre et des Planetes; 322(9): 805-810.

Rahm, U. (1990) Tubulidentates. In: Grzimek's Encyclopedia of Mammals. Edited by S. P. Parker. New York: McGraw-Hill. Volume 4, pp. 449-458.

Schildger, B. J., A. Parys, K. Braumann, B. Matern, and S. Stadler. (1992) Handaufzucht eines Erdferkels (Orycteropus afer) im Zoologischen Garten Frankfurt. Zeitschrift des Koelner Zoo; 35(2): 75-80.

Shoshani, J., Goldman, C. A., & Thewissen, J. G. M. (1988) Orycteropus afer. Mammalian Species 300: 1-8.

Skinner, J. D. & Smithers, R. H. N. (1990) The mammals of the southern African subregion (2nd edn.). University of Pretoria, Pretoria.

Sokolov, V. E., O. F. Chernova, V. Van Hoven, and S. Van Hoven. (1995) Skin structure of Orycteropus afer (Tubulidentata). In Theriological investigations in Ethiopia. Edited by V. E. Sokolov. Nauka. Moskva. pp 297-315.

Springer, M. S., Cleven, G. C., Madsen, O., de Jong, W. W., Waddell, V. G., Amrine, H. M. & Stanhope, M. J. (1997) Endemic African mammals shake the phylogenetic tree. Nature 388: 61-64.

Taylor, W. A., and J. D. Skinner. (2000) Associative feeding between aardwolves (Proteles cristatus) and aardvarks (Orycteropus afer). Mammal Review; 30 (2): 141-143.

Taylor, W.A. & Skinner, J.D. (2001) Associative feeding between Anteating Chats, Myrmecocichla formicivora, and Aardvarks, Orycteropus afer. Ostrich 72: 199-200.

Taylor, W.A., Lindsey, P.A. & Skinner, J.D. (2002) The feeding ecology of the aardvark Orycteropus afer. J. Arid Environs. 50 (1): 135-152.

Thewissen, J. G. M., and D. M. Badoux. (1986) The descriptive and functional myology of the fore-limb of the aardvark Orycteropus afer. Anatomischer Anzeiger; 162(2): 109-123.

van Aarde, R. J., C. K. Willis, J. D. Skinner, and M. A. Haupt. (1992) Range utilization by the aardvark Orycteropus afer Pallas 1766 in the Karoo, South Africa. Journal of Arid Environments; 22(4): 387-394.

White, J. M., G. Williams, J. H. Samour, P. J. J., and P. Cheeseman. (1985) The composition of milk from captive aardvark Orycteropus afer. Zoo Biology; 4(3): 245-252.

Willis, C. K., Skinner, J. D., & Robertson, H. G. (1992) Abundance of ants and termites in the False Karoo and their importance in the diet of the aardvark, Orycteropus afer. Afr. J. Ecol. 30(4): 322-334.

Wilson, D. E., and D. M. Reeder [editors]. (1993) Mammal Species of the World (Second Edition). Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press. (http://nmnhwww.si.edu/msw/)

Page maintained by Archibald. A. Aardvark (TM). Last updated August 2003.