Orycteropus afer Pallas 1766
Creators: name: Don E. Wilson
name: Russell A. Mittermeier
Publisher: name: Lynx Edicions
Year: 2011
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Mammalia
Tubulidentata
Orycteropodidae
Orycteropus
Orycteropus afer

description: Aardvark
Orycteropus afer
French: Oryctérope / German: Erdferkel / Spanish: Cerdo hormiguero
Other common names: Antbear
Taxonomy. Myrmecophaga afra Pallas, 1766,
Cape of Good Hope, South Africa.
Eighteen subspecies described, but in view of the scarcity of comparative material neither the validity nor the limits of the distribution of these are properly known. It is probable that many of the described forms can be placed in synonymy.
Subspecies and Distribution.
O.a.aferPallas,1766—NEBotswana,Zimbabwe,SouthAfrica,Swaziland,Lesotho.
O.a.adametziGrote.1921-NWCameroon.
O.a.aethiopicusSundevall,1843-Sudan,Uganda.
O.a.albicaudusRothschild,1907-Angola,WZambia,Namibia,Botswana.
O.a.angolensisZukowsky&Haltenorth,1957-WAngola.
O.a.erikssoniLönnberg,1906-NDRCongo.
O.a.faradjiusHatt,1932-NEDRCongo,NWUganda.
O.a.haussanusMatschie,1900-Togo.
O.a.kordofanicusRothschild,1927-CSudan.
O.a.lademanniGrote,1921-CTanzania.
O.a.leptodonHirst,1906-Cameroon.
O.a.matschieiGrote,1921—SETanzania.
O.a.observandusGrote,1921-STanzania.
O.a.ruvanensisGrote,1921—Rwanda,NTanzania.
O.a.senegalensisLesson,1840-Senegal.
O.a.somalicusLydekker,1908-Somalia.
O.a.wardiLydekker,1908-EDRCongo,NEZambia.
O. a. wertheri Matschie, 1898 — NE Tanzania.
The following countries fall within the distributional range of the Aardvark, but the subspecies status within each country is not resolved: Mauritania, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Mali, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Benin, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Central African Republic, Eritrea, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Burundi, Malawi, and Mozambique.
Descriptive notes. Head-body 94-142 cm,tail 44-63 cm; weight 40-65 kg. No sexual dimorphism. Body is heavy with strongly arched back; head is elongated with long nose and flat, swollen snout that is prehensile and covered with loose flexible skin. Long hairs form a fringe around the nostrils. Ears are long and rabbitlike; iris dark brown; gape of mouth short. Facial vibrissae above, below, and behind eye and under chin. Legs are thick and muscular; front feet have four toes, hindfeet five toes; small amount of webbing between toes; long strong claws on all feet. Digital pads are present, but no plantar or carpal pads; gait is digitigrade. Tail is thick and tapering, always hanging close to ground or on ground. Head hair very short; body hair longer (1-8 cm) but sparse on back and sides; yellowish-gray. Hair is thickest and longest on legs and often black. Body color gray-brown, but often stained by soil color. Scent gland located in groin region resembles scrotal sac. Adult dental formula is I 0/0, C0/0,P 2/2, M 3/3I (x2) = 20. Skull is flat in profile (except for bulge in front of eyes); has elongated rostrum tapering off to the nasal openings. Zygomatic arch slender; supraoccipital crest thick; no sagittal crest. Two pairs of mammae (one abdominal, one inguinal). Chromosome number is 2n = 20.
Habitat. Occurs in most habitat types including grassland, savanna, semi-arid areas, thicket, deciduous forest, and rainforest; all elevations up to 3200 m in the highlands of Ethiopia. Absent from deserts and very hard or stony terrain that is not suitable to dig in. Important habitat characteristics are the occurrence of suitable prey densities and deep soils.
Food and Feeding. Almost exclusively myrmecophagous with occasional supplementation with subterranean beetle larvae. Reports of eating the geocarpic fruit of the cucumber Cucumis humifructus need to be confirmed. The only detailed feeding studies are from South Africa, where the main prey species are the more abundant large ant and termite species. Although almost all available ant or termite species are eaten, including those with formidable biting or chemical defenses, most are only eaten occasionally; two or three species comprise the mainstay of the diet. In the Karoo biome of South Africa, the most important prey species is the ant Anoplolepis custodiens (making up as much as 70% of the food intake of some animals), followed by the termites Trinervitermes trinervoides and Hodotermes mozambicus. Where these prey species are replaced by different species in other regions, the composition of the diet will change accordingly. Ants and termites are normally extracted directly from their nests and tunnels, rarely from the surface. Prey is located underground by smell, reached by digging, and removed with the tongue. It is normally swallowed without chewing. Aardvarks forage singly.
Breeding. Very little is known about reproduction in the wild. Breeding is probably polygamous. During mating the male clings to the back of the female with his claws and may inflict serious scratches. In southern Africa births are thought to occur between July and November; in Uganda a November birth was reported; in Ethiopia, May-June births were recorded. In captivity, average gestation is 243 days (range 235-258, n = 6) and average birth weightis 1-7 kg (range 1.3-1. 9 kg). Normally only one young is born.
Activity patterns. Nocturnal with occasional afternoon activity during winter in areas where nights get cold. In subtropical South Africa they are active for up to nine hours in summer, reducing to seven hours in winter (when they become active early but cease activities early). In the tropics, activity patterns are not described, but probably closely follow the hours of darkness and may be longer than nine hours. Deep burrows are used for sleeping during the long inactive hours of daylight.
Movements, Home range and Social organization. In the Nama Karoo biome of South Africa, home ranges vary from 130 ha to 350 ha. This is the only place where home ranges have been estimated. Prey densities are very high there, so home ranges are probably bigger elsewhere. Home range sizes do not appear to differ according to gender, but data are limited. Virtually the entire time above ground is spent foraging and individuals move between 2-5 km and 4-5 km per night. In areas of low prey densities, nightly distances covered may be much larger, as indicated by tracking data in Uganda that found distances of up to 14 km moved in one night. Nightly movement patterns seem random, but individuals may avoid foraging in the same areas sequentially. Very few social interactions occur; animals are usually solitary. Mother and offspring interactions have not been observed in the wild so the length of time young stay with mother is unknown. Time of weaning is unknown. Some degree ofterritorial ity is likely but has not been studied. All animals use scent glands to scent-mark inside their home ranges. Densities are low (less than ten animals per 1000 ha), even in good habitat, but there is some home range overlap between and within sexes.
Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. Because of its secretive habits, the Aardvark is seldom seen. It is widespread throughout sub-Saharan Africa, but occurs locally only where habitat is suitable. So few studies have been done that there is no information about densities outside South Africa. No precise information is available regarding population sizes or trends. It seems more or less stable in southern Africa, but numbers in the rest of Africa may be declining. Aardvarks are affected by the expansion of human populations, the destruction of natural habitats, and are taken for the bushmeat trade as the meat is good to eat; other body parts are also used for charms and traditional medicine.
Bibliography. Allison (1947), Benirshke et al. (1970), Clark et al. (1926), Hatt (1934), Hildebrand (1995), de Jong et al. (1981), Kingdon (1971), Lavergne et al. (1996), Lehmann (2009), Lindsey et al. (2008), Madsen et al. (1997), Meester (1971), Meeuse (1958), Melton (1976), Pallas (1766), Patterson, B. (1975), Patterson, M. (1978), Pocock (1924), Shoshani et al. (1988), Skinner & Chimimba (2005), Smithers (1971), Sonntag (1925), Sonntag & Woollard (1925), Springer, Cleven et al. (1997), Springer, Stanhope et al. (2004), Stanhope, Madsen et al. (1998), Stanhope, Smith et al. (1996), Taylor & Skinner (2000, 2001, 2003, 2004), Taylor et al. (2002), Thewissen & Badoux (1986), Van Aarde et al. (1992), Yalden et al. (1996).
description: Published as part of Don E. Wilson & Russell A. Mittermeier, 2011, Orycetropodidae, pp. 18-25 in Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 2 Hoofed Mammals, Barcelona :Lynx Edicions on pages 24-25, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.5720659