Recently I wrote a blog about mound-building termites. One thing led to another, and my research brought me to another animal, an animal that has evolved to hunt termites in their mounds: the aardvark.
Aardvark (Orycteropus Afer)
Image credit: Dave Brown, from iNaturalist. Used under CC 1.0
Years ago, when I was helping my granddaughter read, I learned that 'Aardvark' was the word used to introduce young readers to the letter 'A'. I employed that mnemonic device myself, as my granddaughter and I worked together, but I had no clear idea of what an aardvark was. Now I know.
An aardvark is a rarely-seen animal that looks a lot like an anteater. Both animals have a similar profile because both feed almost exclusively on ants and termites. Their bodies have evolved so they can be successful at hunting ground-dwelling insects.
Giant Anteater (Myrmecophaga Tridactyla)
Image credit: Nortondefeis. Used under CC Attribution Share-Alike 4.0 International license.
While a cursory glance at the anteater and the aardvark might suggest a kinship between the two--because of their distinctive physiognomy--that assumption would be false. The animals are not related. They belong to different taxonomic orders, live on different continents, and have evolved from distinct antecedents.
Image credit: Made from two maps:Aardvark map; Anteater Map Both maps used under Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. Both attributed to: IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, species assessors and the authors of the spatial data. Author for both maps: Chermundy
The aardvark belongs to the order Tubulidentata and is sometimes called a living fossil, because its evolution has been stable for about 50 million years. It is the only extant member of the Tubulidentata order. Its last direct ancestor died in the late Pleistocene era (2 million to 10,000 years ago).
The anteater belongs to the order Pilosa, and is related to the sloth.
Three-toed Sloth (Bradypus variegatus)
Image credit: Daniella Maraschiello. Used under CC attribution share-alike 4.0 International license.
Both the anteater and the aardvark are keystone species. It is considered that their loss would have a profound effect on the ecology of their respective geographic areas.
The Aardvark
Why is the aardvark so important to its environment? The animal has been little studied, until recently. It is more likely to find evidence of the aardvark's presence than it is to see the animal itself. That evidence includes burrows the aardvark excavates. It is the aardvark's prodigious digging activity, and its role in controlling ant/termite populations, that make this odd-looking animal vital to the Sub-Saharan ecology.
The aardvark, in a sense, is a landscape engineer with its digging and burrow excavation. The animal has effectively become the chief hotelier for mammals in Sub-Saharan Africa. Aardvark burrows dot the landscape and offer shelter to at least 17 African mammals. These mammals include small animals, such as ground squirrels and porcupines. The holes also accommodate large predators, such as the leopard and hyena.
Here is a Youtube video that takes us into aardvark territory. Our guide in the video is Dr. Phillip Alcott, a scientist who studies aardvarks in their natural element. In Dr. Alcott's view, the aardvark is the most essential animal to the Sub-Saharan ecosystem.
One animal that is heavily dependent on aardvark holes is the warthog. This toothsome animal likes to live underground and is perfectly capable of digging its own hole. However, it commonly takes up residence in abandoned aardvark holes--or it finds burrows left by other animals.
According to Wikipedia (citation van Aarde, 1984) the aardvark digs several types of burrows: refuge, resting, foraging and nesting. An aardvark can dig fast--within ten minutes it can have itself underground and out of reach from a predator such as a lion or hyena. A conveniently placed burrow can offer desperate escape from a predator.
Here is a Youtube video that shows an aardvark as it makes a dash for a burrow and barely escapes the jaws of a hyena (but it does escape!).
The aardvark in the video should not have been out in the daylight. Harsh circumstances--increasing drought and loss of food supply--are forcing some aardvarks to forage in the daylight. Under extreme stress, aardvarks, which are nocturnal animals, become diurnal. Deprived of sufficient nutrition, they lose the ability to generate body heat, and eventually die. They starve to death.
Southern Aardvark Burrow
Image credit:(c) Tony Rebelo, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) in iNaturalist.
By far the most extensive of the aardvark's burrows is the one used for nesting. This burrow actually may be more like a complex. It can be 40 feet long, 10 feet deep, and may contain numerous tunnels and entrances.
It is in the nesting burrows that the aardvark raises its young. It is believed the aardvark is polygynous. The male mates with many females, but the female only mates with one male.
I found differing data on aardvark statistics. Several sites state that the aardvark has one offspring per litter and that the gestation period is 7 months (one site says eight months). Lifespan reports vary from 18 years to 23 years. At 6 or 7 months the young aardvark is said to be eating solid food, foraging, digging holes and is on its own.
The aardvark's digging ability enables it to create burrows, and also is the lifeline to its food source: termites and ants. The aardvark's highly specialized anatomy is almost a miracle of evolutionary adaptation. The animal's body is designed to hunt, excavate and eat insects that live underground. Hence its principal diet of ants and termites.
Here is a Youtube (night) video of an aardvark hunting for and feeding on its underground prey.
The aardvark has a keen sense of smell, perhaps keener than any other mammal--it has more olfactory turbinate bones than any mammal. The olfactory sense enables the animal to detect prey underground. The aardvark has very poor sight, but long ears that offer enhanced hearing.
The animal's long snout and sticky long tongue is designed for reaching into holes and extracting insects.
Here is a Youtube video that shows an aardvark's tongue at work
In the summer months, the aardvark feeds more readily on ants because these insects build their nests close to the surface in warm weather. In winter, the ants go deep underground and the aardvark is more likely to feed on termites.
The aardvark has a particular nasal adaptation. It can close its nostrils when it is eating, so that insects cannot climb into its nose.
One of the aardvark's most important physical features: its claws. These powerful claws can tear through the cement-like exterior of a termite mound quickly.
The Aardvark Cucumber (Cucumis humifructus)
The title of this blog is The Aardvark, the Termite and the Cucumber. So far, there has been no mention of a cucumber. I end with a final note of peculiarity about the very unusual aardvark. It has a symbiotic relationship with a cucumber.
The aardvark is the only animal known to feed on a particular cucumber, Cucumis humifructus, that grows underground. It is believed this is the only plant the aardvark eats and it is believed the animal derives much-needed moisture from the fruit.
Without the aardvark the cucumber would not survive. It needs the aardvark to disperse its seeds in excrement. Since the aardvark's daily peregrinations are quite far-reaching--they may travel 6 miles in a night--the cucumber's seeds are widely disbursed.
Fruit of the Aardvark Cucumber (Cucumis humifructus)
Image credit: Sydney M. Stent. Public domain.
I hope you found this brief excursion into one of nature's novel animals an interesting read.
Thank you for visiting my blog. Hive on!
https://blog.wcs.org/photo/2018/07/14/aardvarks-weird-and-wonderful-bronx-zoo-africa/
https://www.edgeofexistence.org/blog/aardvarks-the-most-evolutionarily-distinct-mammals/
https://today.oregonstate.edu/news/scientists-collect-aardvark-poop-understand-how-species-impacted-climate-africa
https://www.africa-wildlife-detective.com/aardvarks.html
https://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/warthog
https://www.marylandzoo.org/animal/common-warthog/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aardvark
https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/facts/aardvark
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28724691/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7358442/
https://www.opengroup.org/austin/aardvark/aardvark.html
https://www.apex-expeditions.com/blog/aardvark-encounter-southern-kalahari/
https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Orycteropus_afer/
https://a-z-animals.com/animals/aardvark/
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/facts/aardvark
https://africat.org/aardvark-research/
https://www.gbif.org/species/113283575
https://www.tribes.co.uk/blog/threat-global-climate-change-aardvarks/
https://www.safariltd.com/blogs/toys-that-teach/aardvark-week
https://ulovane.co.za/2017/03/16/ulovane-update-aardvark-cucumber/
https://everything2.com/title/Aardvark+Cucumber
https://www.thoughtco.com/aardvark-profile-129412
https://www.ifaw.org/animals/anteaters
https://news.mongabay.com/2020/02/study-investigates-impact-of-road-deaths-on-giant-anteater-population-in-cerrado/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenarthra
https://www.edgeofexistence.org/blog/aardvarks-the-most-evolutionarily-distinct-mammals/
http://www.nhc.ed.ac.uk/index.php?page=134.170.284
Very interesting post @agmoore, plus it's a perfect follow up to the termite post. Without a doubt, the aardvark is a fantastic animal, as their bodies are the reflection of so many things that evolution implies, so they are perfectly adapted to feed on insects in a way that another mammal could not. I remember watching documentaries I was surprised to see that their tongues are really very long, which makes it easy for them to capture ants or termites in large quantities. On the other hand, it is surprising that despite having short legs they are fast animals, the video of how the anteater flees from the hyena is good, they are cunning animals.
This publication is very didactic, I knew very little about these beautiful animals, I only knew that they were very specialized insect controllers. Thank you very much for sharing such good information, I wish you an excellent week @agmoore, in my country the heat wave has dissipated a little thanks to the rains 🙂🙂.
Thank you my friend @abneagro 🌷
I value your feedback highly. The world is full of interesting characters, isn't it? Every time I start reading about one, I am led to read about another. The day I exhaust that interest is the day I know I will be truly old :))
Watching the hyena chase the aardvark was hard. I didn't want that animal to get caught. And yet...the hyena has to eat, doesn't it? It probably has cubs to feed. It will go on and find another victim. Lucky aardvark, unlucky something else.
I'm happy to hear the rains have cooled things off a bit for you. Season seems to be brutal in some parts of the U.S. Homeless people dying from the heat. It's a tragedy.
Thank you very much for reading and for commenting. I hope more mild weather is on the way for you.
When I was about 6 or 7, I set about memorising the dictionary. Of course the first word is Aardvark and the definition was 'anteater or emmet.' I remember this particularly as that's my brother's name and we used to jeer him about it. After reading your post, I looked on line and couldn't see this mentioned anywhere. I think I must be moving back and forth into parallel universes:)
That's funny about your brother. I never tried to memorize the dictionary as a kid, but I did read through it occasionally just for fun. That, and almanacs.
When I was young my parents ran a secondhand bookshop, so I was always fascinated with words. Almanacs, that's interesting. I was fascinated by proverbs, cautionary tales and fables.
There is a lot in our backgrounds that is similar. This is not one of those things :)) I don't believe I saw a dictionary, or at least got to hold one even briefly, until I was about 12. I would say my literacy was severely delayed, and my exposure to reading material gravely deficient.😆
But memorizing the dictionary--that's an interesting goal for any child.
Heavens, I feel that way all the time 😁
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Thank you for the support and acknowledgement, @hive-up (and @yaziris).
Awesome complementary post to the termite edition. I wonder if they have particular tolerance to certain stings of ants in their various areas. I'm pretty sure that vague map includes bullet ant territory - do they have favourite flavours??
Hi @mobbs
Thanks! Looks like bullet ants live in the Americas, so they wouldn't be an issue for aardvarks (Africa). However, this animal avoids driver ants, which also have powerful mandibles, and red ants. I found that information on Wikipedia. Though the aardvark is known for eating termites (which is what I assumed), they actually eat more ants than termites.
Last few weeks (actually months) have been quite stressful in my home. It's wonderful to focus on something like this and forget about the other stuff. I'm really grateful there are people who care to read this and who are actually interested. 🌈
Thanks a lot for stopping by :)
Oh yeah whenever I see something with a big nose covered in fur, I can't help but to read more.
Sorry to hear the stress is going on, writing is certainly a good catharsis often. I hear there are Lemon Ants that taste citrussy, you could mix them into a cocktail to relax, perhaps
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Oh, I always enjoy reading your posts, and this one was no exception. I would've told anyone confidently that and aardvark and an anteater were the same creature, but mainly because I had never heard about the former 🤭 How come they use such a strange name to teach a kid to read, haha. Wow.
I loved this. Aardvarks are ancient benefactors. Nice.
I enjoyed the excursion, dear @agmoore. Excellent guided and no mosquitoes 😌
Thank you!! It is a strange name to teach kids with. Seems to work though :))
These animals are really likeable. As I prepared to write the blog, I watched a lot of videos, and every time was charmed.
Thanks so much for your appreciation. It's encouraging to get that kind of endorsement.
I hope you and the assorted wildlife in your backyard are bearing up under the heat these days. Have a great rest of the week, dear @marlyncabrera.
Oh, we are meant to thrive 😁
Have a lovely weekend ahead!
What a truly odd creature. Their diet of insects and cucumber sounds well balanced
According to this video, they eat 50,000 insects per night. There goes my aardvark-diet plan. 😄
That's a lot of termites :)) You can see why they are important to crop management and even human structures. Keeping those termites and ants at bay is a real social service.
I think these critters are adorable. Couldn't find a video of a young one in the wild. Only saw videos of infants in zoos being fed by humans. That image offended me :(
Thanks for stopping by and sharing the video.
Their restricted diet seems an evolutionary liability. As you mentioned, their bodies are specifically adapted for hunting certain insects, so if something were to happen to those insects, then the aardvarks are going to have a hard time adapting. It is an interesting creature, and this is a great article. 🐜
This is a fascinating post that's right up my alley. I didn't know they dug their own burrows. Wow, what a lucky escape that aardvark made. Good thing there was a burrow near by.
I know! What a lucky escape indeed! I wouldn't have shown it if the poor thing didn't get away :)
The post is a good way for me to relax. When I'm stressed I read about stuff that has nothing to do with my life. The focus is very therapeutic. It's a little odd. Some people knit. Some cook. Some watch TV. I research odd animals :)))
Thanks for stopping by.
I can relate. 😁
I know ant eaters but aardvark is my first time hearing about. But it makes sense I don't know everything that is found in Africa.
Nice post
Thanks so much for stopping by, commenting and supporting my post. Much appreciated.
Thanks, @agmoore, for introducing this interesting animal to us, the Aardvark. I can agree it is a pretty important specie due to the fact that it is a keystone specie, and also how it's burrowing efforts help shelter numerous other creatures. And in addition to that it isn't destructive, I mean feeding on livestock or crops, but just ants. I just hope the areas of the world where they inhabit are sensitized enough to know of it's importance and to keep from hunting it.
It was a fun and educative read. Thanks for your efforts in writing. Have a good day.
Thank you very much, @aloysiusmbaba. It was relaxing looking up the information, and fun learning about this animal.
I appreciate your stopping by and your kind comment.
Thank you for the information. Aardvark is an interesting animal that I'm not familiar with but through this, I know about the animal too. 😊
Thank you for stopping by. It was fun learning about the aardvark. I knew nothing when I started researching this blog.
Hahaha, same here. I'm thankful that you shared here too.😊
Ohhh, Aardvark is a fascinating creature!
It’s good to know about an Aardvark for the first time
I’ve never heard about it before
Earlier I did not know about this animal but now I know about it and I got knowledge about it from your post.