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Do Aardvarks Lay Eggs?

Aardvarks do not lay eggs. They are mammals that reproduce by giving birth to live young and only give birth to one baby aardvark at a time. The only two mammals known to lay eggs are the platypus and the Echidna.

Once the baby aardvarks hatch, the mother aardvark’s produce milk for them to drink. The baby aardvarks are born without hair and stay inside the burrow for at least two weeks. It drinks the mother’s milk for about four months and then afterwards it will begin to start eating insects

When a young aardvark is about the age of six months, he leaves the burrow and can be found going out on his own. Young females stay with their mothers until she has another baby. Then the young one digs a burrow nearby and continues to hunt and socialize with the mother aardvark and other females. Female aardvarks tend to live in one area for their entire life, while males are known to wander around. Just by looking at these few facts it is obvious to see that these creatures are quite bright.

How Do Aardvarks Defend Themselves?

Aardvarks may not possess many teeth, however when it comes to defending themselves against predators they still have a few tricks up their sleeves. The aardvark’s main predators are humans, lions, hyenas, pythons, and leopards. Since aardvarks are burrowing animals, they can dig really fast. This helps them hide from predators quickly when they are in danger.

These creatures also have very keen smell and a great sense of hearing which helps them easily detect when danger is nearby. They are able to run in zig zags to escape from and confuse their enemies, but when all else fails they can be found striking predators with their spoon shaped claws, tail and shoulders.

The aardvark’s also have a rare characteristic of flipping onto their backs when it feels threatened and/or needs to escape danger, and this results in a type of somersault. Another thing that helps aardvarks survive attacks from predators is their thick skin.

These creatures are sometimes underestimated by humans and other predators, when in fact they have front legs that are short and powerful for digging. This enables them to excavate a termite mound in just a few minutes time. Just imagine what they could do to a predator with those legs. When attacked, these creatures can be quite fierce and will also slash and kick their legs and claws. They are also able to stand on their back legs and tails in order to defend themselves from predators with their front feet.

Are Aardvarks Mammals?

The aardvark is in fact considered to be a mammal and is native to Africa. Anteaters are also actually one of the three surviving families of a group of mammals that was once very diverse, and occupied South America. While it was geographically isolated from an invasion of animals from Northern America. The other two groups of animals being armadillos and sloths. Aardvarks are from the family Oryteropodidae. Like most mammals, these creatures are warm blooded, give birth to live young that they feed with milk that they produce from their mammary glands, and have fur.

The word “mammal” comes from the Latin mamma (“breast”). Aardvarks being that they are mammals are also members of a class of air breathing vertebrates characterized by the possession of endothermic hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands. Most mammals also usually possess sweat glands and specialized teeth. Aardvark’s teeth are quite distinct as they only possess 10 of the near their cheeks.

The mammalian brain has the characteristic of neocortex, which means that it regulates endothermic and circulatory systems, the latter featuring red blood cells lacking nuclei and a large four chambered heart maintaining the very high metabolism rate they have.

Can Aardvarks Swim?

Since aardvarks are land mammals, it is said that they are most likely able to swim, however very little is actually known about this trait in these creatures, as swimming is not a necessity for them. Typically, all land mammals are able to swim if forced to or if necessary, the aardvark is really no exception to this rule. However they may not like the water very much as it is not something that they are used generally used to.

Although aardvarks are said to have terrible eyesight, it has been reported that they are surprisingly good swimmers, which one being reported to have swam across a river with a swift current. One of the reasons they may be good swimmers could be from their powerful legs that they use for digging. These legs can move quickly and probably help the creature swim more efficiently.

Are Aardvarks Carnivores, Herbivores, or Omnivores?

Aardvarks are carnivores as they feed upon termites. However, they have also been known to eat underground fruits, probably as a source of water. The name Aardvark actually means “earth pig” and not only are they carnivores, they can technically be classified as specialized carnivores as they are specialized for eating termites in particular. They do this by moving from one termite mound to another and dismantle the hills with their powerful claws. Sometimes they are also classified as being “insectivores”.

Insects are then trapped by the aardvark’s long protractile tongue that can be as long as 30 cm and is covered with thick and sticky saliva. Sometimes the aardvark presses its snout against an opening in the mound and sucks up termites this way. They are creatures that possess a keen sense of smell and also hunt for long columns of termites that move outside of their mounds at night.

These creatures are also designed possessing 10 cheek teeth while lacking incisors and canines, as well as bristles around its small mouth. What is very interesting is that unlike most creatures, their teeth are not made from enamel such as a human’s teeth are. Instead, the aardvark’s teeth are actually made of a type of cement. Along with cement teeth and keen smelling, they are also very good at hearing which helps them locate their prey easily.

These creatures can be found often using their sense of smell and hearing to locate insects and then use their claws to dig into their mounds and get them with their powerful, long, and very sticky tongues. Their claws are spoon shaped, which helps them grasp onto their prey easier.

One advantage an aardvark’s prey may have over these creatures is that aardvarks are typically known for having very poor eyesight. However, termites are probably still not a match for aardvarks once they have already located the mounds in which these insects reside, as they can easily trap and suck up the prey before the termites even know what is happening.

Do Aardvarks Have Fur?

Aardvarks only have an amount of short coarse hair. However, it has been suggested that the thickness of an aardvark’s hair may vary geographically. These creatures though they have very thick skin are often found to be sparsely furred. Aardvarks residing in places such as Southern Africa may have thicker fur on the legs, thighs, and flanks while aardvarks found in the rainforests are usually almost bald. The fur of an aardvark, itself generally looks grey or black; however the fur has been known to take on the color of the soil. Some aardvarks with sparse fur have yellow to white tinges in their coats. Baby aardvarks are actually born without any fur. As a result they spend time in the burrow for at least two weeks until it begins to grow fur.

Do Aardvarks Eat Ants?

It is true that aardvarks do eat ants. They mainly prefer termites however. They have also been known to eat underground fruits, probably as a source of water. The name Aardvark actually means “earth pig” and these creatures are considered to be insectivores or specialized carnivores. They feast upon insects by moving from one termite or ant mound to another and dismantle the hills with their powerful claws that are shaped like spoons.

Insects are then trapped by the aardvark’s long protractile tongue that can be as long as 30 cm and is covered with thick and sticky saliva. Sometimes the aardvark presses its snout against an opening in the mound and sucks up termites this way. They are creatures that possess a keen sense of smell and also hunt for long columns of termites that move outside of their mounds at night.

Aardvarks are also designed possessing only 10 cheek teeth while lacking incisors and canines, (They have these when they are young but eventually lose them) as well as bristles around its small mouth. What is very interesting is that unlike most creatures, their teeth are not made from enamel such as a human’s teeth are. Instead, the aardvark’s teeth are actually made of a type of cement. Along with cement teeth and keen smelling, they are also very good at hearing which helps them locate their prey such as ants and termites very easily.

These creatures can be found often using their sense of smell and hearing to locate insects and then use their claws to dig into their mounds and get them with their powerful, long, and very sticky tongues. Their claws are spoon shaped, which helps them grasp onto their prey easier.

Aardvarks love to feast upon insects, this is a known fact.

Are Aardvarks Endangered?

In prior years it was said that the aardvark was in fact an endangered species. However since the year 2002, these animals have been listed under the category of least concern on the South African ICUN red list.

In addition to this, it is also now believed that the creature may never have been endangered to begin with. It is suggested, rather that its evasive behavior just tends to make it difficult to find, therefore appearing at one point to be a rare species.

While the primary enemies of aardvarks include pythons, cheetahs, lions, hunting dogs, leopards, and the honey badger, humans are actually their biggest threat. This is due to the fact that their natural habitats are being reduced more and more as human populations continue to grow. In some places, this animal is even viewed to be a “nuisance” to farmers as they dig holes in dam walls and in roads as well as underneath fences. They can damage land quite a bit with their burrowing habits.

Do Aardvarks Hibernate?

Aardvarks do not hibernate. They are mostly solitary and nocturnal creatures. However sometimes they have been known to come out during the day to bask in the sun. Although, typically these creatures do not leave their burrows until late sometime in the afternoon or sometime after sunset.

Hibernation is the process that occurs in mammals such as birds during the winter. During this process they store food in the fall and then sleep throughout the winter season, and wake up in the spring. If it were not for hibernation, mammals such as the bird would not be able to find their food in the winter, so hibernation makes them sleep and not get hungry, which also slows down their heart rate thus reducing the need for food until spring arrives. Aardvarks do not hibernate and food for them is not scarce during winter months. They also reside in very hot, dry places so hibernating is typically not necessary for them as most are found in places such as deserts.

Are Aardvarks Related To Anteaters?

Aardvarks and anteaters are not related. Though it was once assumed that they were due to a few of their physical similarities. However, the truth of the matter is that the two do not have similarities as a sign of sharing a common ancestor, but rather due to convergent evolution.

All have evolved powerful digging forearms and long tongues. They also possess tube like snouts that do not consist of teeth that help the creatures make a living by raiding termite mounts. This similarity is often the people mistake that aardvarks and anteaters are related.

Furthermore, Anteaters are one of the three surviving families of a group of mammals that was once very diverse, and occupied South America. While it was geographically isolated from an invasion of animals from Northern America. The other two groups of animals being armadillos and sloths. These two creatures though they may in appearance seem to be related, are actually two very different species that differ in a number of characteristics. For one thing Aardvarks are from the family Oryteropodidae while the Anteater is from the family Cyclopedidae, Mrymecophagidae.

Aardvarks are creatures that live below the ground in burrows and unlike the Anteater possess teeth. In fact, their teeth are a cylindrical shape that will continue to grow throughout its lifetime. Aardvarks are nocturnal creatures that sleep during the day and are more active at night, whereas the Anteater is diurnal meaning that it is awake during the day and sleeps during the night.

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