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The Aardvark (Orycteropus afer) [a:dva:k] is a medium-sized mammal native to Africa. The name comes from the Dutch for "earth pig", because early settlers from Europe thought it resembled a pig (although Aardvarks are not closely related to pigs).

The Aardvark is the only surviving member of the family Orycteropodidae and of the order Tubulidentata. The Aardvark was originally placed in the same genus as the South American anteaters because of superficial similarities which, it is now known, are the result of convergent evolution, not common ancestry. (For the same reason, Aardvarks bear a striking first-glance resemblance to the marsupial bilbiesBilbies Greater bilby : Animalia : Chordata : Mammalia : Marsupialia : Peramelemorphia : Peramelidae Macrotis Species M. lagotis ''M. leucura (extinct) Bilbies are marsupial omnivores; members of the bandicoot family. Before European colonisation of Austr and bandicootsTrue Bandicoots Northern Brown Bandicoot : Animalia : Chordata : Mammalia : Marsupialia : Peramelemorphia Peramelidae Peramelinae Genera Perameles Isoodon Chaeropus A bandicoot is any of about 8 species of small to medium-sized, terrestrial marsupial omni of Australasia, which are not placental mammalsEutheria is a classification system nearly synonymous with Placentalia. Introduced by Thomas Henry Huxley in 1880, he meant for it to be more broad in definition than its precursor Placentalia. However, the noun placental is used almost universally to des at all.)

The oldest known Tubulidentata fossils have been found in KenyaKenya (pronounced KEN-ya; the pronunciation KEEN-ya is archaic) is a country of eastern Africa, bordering Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and the Indian Ocean. Nairobi is its capital and largest city. Republic of Kenya ( In Detail) (Full size) and date to the early MioceneThe Miocene Epoch is a period of time that extends from about 5 million to 24 million years before the present. As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the start and end are well identified, but the exact dates of the start and end. It appears that the order evolved in Africa during the late CretaceousThe Cretaceous period is one of the major divisions of the geologic timescale, reaching from the end of the Jurassic period (about 135 mya) to the beginning of the Paleocene epoch of the Tertiary period (65 mya). The end of the Cretaceous also defines the as part of the superorder AfrotheriaAfrotheria are a clade of mammals that has been proposed based on DNA analysis. Afrotheria are believed to have originated in Africa at a time when the continent was isolated from other continents. Their only externally visible common characteristic is th, and spread to Europe and southern Asia during the later Miocene and early PlioceneThe Pliocene epoch is the period in the geologic timescale that extends from about 5 million to 1. 6 million years before present. The Pliocene follows the Miocene epoch and is followed by the Pleistocene epoch. The Pliocene is the fifth and last epoch of. Three genera of the family Orycteropodidae are known: Leptorycteropus, Myorycteropus, and Orycteropus, the surviving Aardvark.

The most distinctive characteristic of the Tubulidentata is (as the name implies) their teeth which, instead of having a pulp cavity, have lots of thin tubes of dentine, each containing pulp and held together by cementum. The teeth have no enamel coating and are worn away and regrow continuously. Aardvarks are born with conventional incisors and canines at the front of the jaw, but these fall out and are not replaced. In adult Aardvarks, the only teeth are the molars at the back of the jaw.

Aardvarks are only vaguely pig-like; the body is stout with an arched back; the limbs are of moderate length. The front feet have lost the pollex (or 'thumb') - resulting in four toes - but the rear feet have all 5 toes. Each toe bears a large, robust nail which is somewhat flattened and shovel-like, and appears to be intermediate between a claw and a hoof. The ears are disproportionately long and the tail very thick at the base with a gradual taper. The greatly elongated head is set on a short thick neck, and at the end of the snout is a disk in which the nostrils open. The mouth is typical of species that feed on termites: small and tubular. Aardvarks have long, thin, protrusible tongues and elaborate structures supporting a keen sense of smell.

Weight is typically between 40 and 65 kilogrammes; length is usually between 1 and 1.3 metres. Aardvarks are a pale yellowish grey in colour, often stained reddish-brown by soil. The coat is thin and the animal's primary protection is its tough skin; Aardvarks have been known to sleep in a recently excavated ant nest, so well does it protect them.

In the past, several individual species of Aardvark were named, however current knowledge indicates that there is only one species, Orycteropus afer, with several subspecies; 18 have been listed but most are regarded as invalid.

Aardvarks are nocturnal and solitary creatures that feed almost exclusively on ants and termites. An Aardvark emerges from its burrow in the late afternoon or shortly after sunset, and forages over a considerable home range, swinging its long nose from side to side to pick up the scent of food. When a concentration of ants or termites is found, the Aardvark digs into it with its powerful front legs, keeping its long ears upright to listen for predators, and takes up an astonishing number of insects with its long, sticky tongue—as many as 50,000 in one night has been recorded. They are exceptionally fast diggers, but otherwise move rather slowly.

Aside from digging out ants and termites, Aardvarks also excavate burrows to live in: temporary sites scattered around the home range as refuges, and the main burrow which is used for breeding. Main burrows can be deep and extensive, have several entrances, and be 13 metres long. Aardvarks change the layout of their home burrow regularly, and from time to time move on and make a new one.

A single young weighing around 2 kg is born, and is able to leave the burrow to accompany its mother after only two weeks. At six months of age it is digging its own burrows, but it will often remain with the mother until the next mating season.

Aardvarks are distributed across most of sub-Saharan Africa, and although killed by humans both for their flesh and for their teeth (which are used as decorations), do not appear to be threatened.