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Wallpapers of Art Wolfe Wallpapers of Aardwolf That Eat Termites

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Species of mammal

Aardwolf

Temporal range: Pleistocene – Recent
Proteles cristatus1.jpg
An aardwolf in Namib-Nord, Namibia

Conservation condition


Least Concern (IUCN iii.i)[1]

Scientific classification edit
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Course: Mammalia
Lodge: Carnivora
Suborder: Feliformia
Family: Hyaenidae
Subfamily: Protelinae
Genus: Proteles
Species:

P. cristata

Binomial name
Proteles cristata

Sparrman, 1783
Aardwolf area.png
Aardwolf range

The aardwolf (Proteles cristata) is an insectivorous mammal in the family Hyaenidae, native to East and Southern Africa. Its name ways "earth-wolf" in Afrikaans and Dutch.[2] [3] Information technology is also chosen maanhaar-jackal [4] [5] (Afrikaans for "mane-jackal"), termite-eating hyena [half dozen] and civet hyena, based on its habit of secreting substances from its anal gland, a characteristic shared with the African civet.[vii] Unlike many of its relatives in the society Carnivora, the aardwolf does not hunt large animals. It eats insects and their larvae,[8] mainly termites; one aardwolf can lap up every bit many as 250,000 termites during a single night using its long, mucilaginous tongue. The aardwolf's tongue has adapted to exist tough enough to withstand the strong bite of termites.[9]

The aardwolf lives in the shrublands of eastern and southern Africa – open lands covered with stunted trees and shrubs. Information technology is nocturnal, resting in burrows during the day and emerging at dark to seek food.

Taxonomy [edit]

The aardwolf is generally classified with the hyena family Hyaenidae, though it was formerly placed in its ain family unit Protelidae.[nb ane] Early on, scientists felt that it was simply mimicking the striped hyena, which subsequently led to the creation of Protelidae.[11] Contempo studies have suggested that the aardwolf probably diverged from other hyaenids early on on; how early is yet unclear, every bit the fossil record and genetic studies disagree past 10 million years.[12] [nb 2]

The aardwolf is the only surviving species in the subfamily Protelinae. There is disagreement as to whether the species is monotypic,[thirteen] or can be divided into subspecies P. c. cristatus of Southern Africa and P. c. septentrionalis of East Africa.[vii] [14]

Etymology [edit]

The generic name proteles comes from two words both of Greek origin, protos and teleos which combined means "complete in front" based on the fact that they take five toes on their front anxiety and iv on the rear.[seven] The specific name, cristatus, comes from Latin and means "provided with a comb", relating to their mane.[7]

Description [edit]

The aardwolf resembles a very thin striped hyena, just with a more slender muzzle, blackness vertical stripes on a coat of yellowish fur, and a long, singled-out mane down the midline of the neck and back. It also has one or two diagonal stripes down the fore- and hind-quarters, along with several stripes on its legs.[fourteen] The mane is raised during confrontations to make the aardwolf appear larger. It is missing the throat spot that others in the family have.[7] Its lower leg (from the knee joint down) is all black, and its tail is bushy with a black tip.[ten]

The aardwolf is about 55 to 80 cm (22 to 31 in) long, excluding its bushy tail, which is virtually twenty–30 cm (7.nine–11.8 in) long,[2] [10] and stands most 40 to l cm (16 to 20 in) tall at the shoulders.[15] An adult aardwolf weighs approximately 7–10 kg (xv–22 lb), sometimes reaching 15 kg (33 lb).[vii] The aardwolves in the south of the continent tend to be smaller (almost 10 kg (22 lb))than the eastern version (around 14 kg (31 lb)). This makes the aardwolf, the smallest extant member of the Hyaenidae family unit.[14] The forepart feet take five toes each, unlike the four-toed hyena.[2] [16] The teeth and skull are like to those of other hyenas, though smaller,[xv] and its cheek teeth are specialised for eating insects.[2] It does still take canines, merely, dissimilar other hyenas, these teeth are used primarily for fighting and defence.[10] Its ears, which are big,[10] are very similar to those of the striped hyena.[7]

Every bit an aardwolf ages, information technology volition normally lose some of its teeth, though this has little bear upon on its feeding habits due to the softness of the insects that it eats.[8]

Distribution and habitat [edit]

Aardwolves live in open up, dry plains and bushland, avoiding mountainous areas.[ten] Due to their specific food requirements, they are only found in regions where termites of the family unit Hodotermitidae occur. Termites of this family depend on dead and withered grass and are virtually populous in heavily grazed grasslands and savannahs, including farmland. For near of the yr, aardwolves spend time in shared territories consisting of up to a dozen dens, which are occupied for vi weeks at a fourth dimension.[8]

At that place are ii singled-out populations: i in Southern Africa, and another in Due east and Northeast Africa. The species does non occur in the intermediary miombo forests.

An adult pair, along with their nigh-recent offspring, occupies a territory of one–4 km2 (0.39–1.54 sq mi).[17]

Behavior and ecology [edit]

Aardwolves are shy and nocturnal, sleeping in burrows past day.[2] They will, on occasion during the winter, become diurnal feeders. This happens during the coldest periods as they so stay in at night to conserve oestrus.[eighteen]

They accept often been mistaken for solitary animals. In fact, they alive equally monogamous pairs with their immature.[19] [20] If their territory is infringed upon, they volition chase the intruder up to 400 yard (1,300 ft) or to the border.[17] If the intruder is caught, which rarely happens,[17] a fight will occur, which is accompanied past soft clucking,[21] hoarse barking, and a type of roar.[22] The bulk of incursions occur during mating flavor, when they can occur once or twice per week.[22] When food is scarce, the stringent territorial system may exist abandoned and equally many as three pairs may occupy a single territory.[22]

The territory is marked by both sexes, equally they both have developed anal glands from which they extrude a black substance that is smeared on rocks or grass stalks in five-millimetre (0.20 in)-long streaks.[22] Aardwolves too have scent glands on the forefoot and penile pad.[23] They oft marking near termite mounds inside their territory every 20 minutes or then. If they are patrolling their territorial boundaries, the marking frequency increases drastically, to once every 50 m (160 ft). At this rate, an individual may mark lx marks per hour,[22] and upwards of 200 per dark.[17]

An aardwolf pair may have up to 10 dens, and numerous feces middens, within their territory. When they eolith excreta at their middens, they dig a modest hole and encompass information technology with sand. Their dens are usually abandoned aardvark, springhare, or porcupine dens,[21] or on occasion they are crevices in rocks. They will also dig their ain dens, or enlarge dens started by springhares.[22] They typically volition but use one or 2 dens at a time, rotating through all of their dens every six months. During the summer, they may rest outside their den during the dark, and slumber underground during the estrus of the twenty-four hour period.

Aardwolves are not fast runners nor are they particularly adept at fighting off predators. Therefore, when threatened, the aardwolf may endeavour to mislead its foe by doubling dorsum on its tracks. If confronted, information technology may raise its mane in an try to announced more than menacing. Information technology also emits a foul-smelling liquid from its anal glands.[fifteen]

Feeding [edit]

The aardwolf feeds primarily on termites and more than specifically on Trinervitermes.[9] This genus of termites has different species throughout the aardwolf's range. In Eastward Africa, they eat Trinervitermes bettonianus, in central Africa, they eat Trinervitermes rhodesiensis, and in southern Africa, they eat T. trinervoides.[2] [ix] [22] Their technique consists of licking them off the ground as opposed to the aardvark, which digs into the mound.[eighteen] They locate their nutrient by audio and also from the smell secreted by the soldier termites.[22] An aardwolf may consume up to 250,000 termites per night using its long, sticky tongue.[9] [8]

They do not destroy the termite mound or consume the entire colony, thus ensuring that the termites can rebuild and provide a continuous supply of food. They oft memorize the location of such nests and return to them every few months.[21] During sure seasonal events, such as the onset of the rainy flavor and the common cold of midwinter, the master termites become deficient, so the need for other foods becomes pronounced. During these times, the southern aardwolf will seek out Hodotermes mossambicus, a blazon of harvester termite[22] active in the afternoon, which explains some of their diurnal behavior in the wintertime.[9] The eastern aardwolf, during the rainy season, subsists on termites from the genera Odontotermes and Macrotermes.[9] They are also known to feed on other insects, larvae, eggs, and, some sources say, occasionally pocket-sized mammals and birds, but these constitute a very minor per centum of their total diet.[22]

Unlike other hyenas, aardwolves practise not scavenge or kill larger animals.[x] [21] Contrary to popular myths, aardwolves do not eat carrion, and if they are seen eating while hunched over a dead carcass, they are actually eating larvae and beetles.[10] Likewise, reverse to some sources, they exercise not similar meat, unless it is finely ground or cooked for them.[10] The adult aardwolf was formerly assumed to provender in small-scale groups,[15] but more than contempo enquiry has shown that they are primarily lone foragers,[20] necessary considering of the scarcity of their insect prey. Their primary source, Trinervitermes, forages in pocket-size but dense patches of 25–100 cm (9.8–39.4 in).[22] While foraging, the aardwolf tin can comprehend about i km (0.62 mi) per hr, which translates to 8–12 km (5.0–7.v mi) per summertime night and 3–viii km (1.nine–5.0 mi) per winter night.[10]

Breeding [edit]

The convenance season varies depending on location, but normally takes identify during autumn or spring. In S Africa, breeding occurs in early on July.[17] During the breeding season, unpaired male aardwolves search their own territory, as well equally others, for a female to mate with. Dominant males also mate opportunistically with the females of less dominant neighboring aardwolves,[17] which can result in conflict between rival males.[7] Dominant males even go a step further and every bit the convenance season approaches, they brand increasingly greater and greater incursions onto weaker males' territories. Every bit the female person comes into estrus, they add pasting to their tricks inside of the other territories, sometimes doing so more in rivals' territories than their own.[17] Females volition also, when given the opportunity, mate with the dominant male, which increases the chances of the dominant male guarding "his" cubs with her.[17] Copulation lasts between 1 and iv.5 hours.[nineteen] [24]

Gestation lasts between 89 and 92 days,[seven] [17] producing 2 to five cubs (nearly oft two or 3) during the rainy season (Nov–December),[15] when termites are more agile.[2] They are born with their eyes open, only initially are helpless,[22] and weigh effectually 200–350 g (7.1–12.3 oz).[seven] The beginning six to eight weeks are spent in the den with their parents.[21] The male may spend upwardly to six hours a night watching over the cubs while the mother is out looking for food.[17] [22] Later iii months, they begin supervised foraging, and by four months are ordinarily independent, though they oft share a den with their mother until the adjacent breeding season.[21] By the time the side by side set of cubs is born, the older cubs have moved on.[17] Aardwolves generally achieve sexual maturity at one and a one-half to ii years of historic period.[7]

Conservation [edit]

The aardwolf has not seen decreasing numbers and is relatively widespread throughout eastern Africa. They are non common throughout their range, equally they maintain a density of no more than 1 per square kilometer, if food is abundant. Because of these factors, the IUCN has rated the aardwolf equally least business.[1] In some areas, they are persecuted considering of the mistaken conventionalities that they prey on livestock; however, they are actually beneficial to the farmers considering they eat termites that are detrimental.[22] In other areas, the farmers have recognized this, merely they are still killed, on occasion, for their fur. Dogs and insecticides[1] are also common killers of the aardwolf.[21]

In captivity [edit]

Illustration of Proteles cristatus

Frankfurt Zoo in Germany was home to the oldest recorded aardwolf in captivity at 18 years and 11 months.[10]

Notes [edit]

  1. ^ Some sources such as Coetzee in Meester and Setzer (1977), Köhler and Ricardson (1990), and Yalden, Largen, and Koch (1980), allocate the aardwolf in its ain family notwithstanding.[x]
  2. ^ The fossil tape shows 18–20 mya, and genetic studies indicate roughly 10.six mya.[12]

References [edit]

  1. ^ a b c Green, D.S. (2015). "Proteles cristata". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2015: e.T18372A45195681. doi:ten.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-two.RLTS.T18372A45195681.en . Retrieved xix November 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d east f g Hoiberg 2010, p. four
  3. ^ "Aardwolf, n." Lexicon of South African English. Dictionary Unit for Southward African English, 2018. Web. 25 Feb 2019.
  4. ^ Oxford English Lexicon Online 2013
  5. ^ "Maanhaar, due north." Dictionary of South African English language. Lexicon Unit of measurement for South African English, 2018. Web. 25 February 2019.
  6. ^ Macintyre, Giles Ternan (1972). "The Trisulcate Petrosal Pattern of Mammals". In Dobzhansky, Theodosius; Hecht, Max K.; Steere, William C. (eds.). Evolutionary Biological science. Evolutionary Biological science: Book 6. Springer US. pp. 275–303. doi:10.1007/978-1-4684-9063-3_9. ISBN978-1-4684-9063-iii.
  7. ^ a b c d eastward f g h i j k Rieger 1990, pp. 570–571
  8. ^ a b c d Anon 1998, p. 144
  9. ^ a b c d due east f Mills & Harvey 2001, p. 71
  10. ^ a b c d east f thou h i j k Nowak 2005, pp. 222–223
  11. ^ Brottman 2012, pp. 28–29
  12. ^ a b Koepfli et al. 2006, p. 615
  13. ^ Wozencraft 2005, p. 573
  14. ^ a b c Mills & Harvey 2001, p. 33
  15. ^ a b c d e Goodwin 1997, p. three
  16. ^ Brottman 2012, p. 29
  17. ^ a b c d east f g h i j k Mills & Harvey 2001, pp. 108–109
  18. ^ a b Brottman 2012, p. thirty
  19. ^ a b Richardson, P. R. K. "Aardwolf mating system: overt cuckoldry in an patently monogamous mammal." South African Journal of Science 83.7 (1987): 405.
  20. ^ a b Koehler & Richardson 1990, p. 4
  21. ^ a b c d east f g Brottman 2012, p. 31
  22. ^ a b c d e f g h i j thou l grand n Richardson & Bearder 1984, pp. 158–159
  23. ^ Stoeckelhuber, Mechthild, Alexander Sliwa, and Ulrich Welsch. "Histo‐physiology of the scent‐marking glands of the penile pad, anal pouch, and the forefoot in the aardwolf (Proteles cristatus)." The anatomical record 259.3 (2000): 312-326.
  24. ^ Sliwa, Alexander. "A functional analysis of aroma marking and mating behaviour in the aardwolf." Proteles cristatus (1996).

References [edit]

  • Green, D.Southward. (2015). "Proteles cristata". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2015: e.T18372A45195681. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-two.RLTS.T18372A45195681.en . Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  • Anon (1998). Wildlife Fact File. Vol. Group 1. IMP Publishing Ltd. Card 144. ISBN978-1886614772.
  • Brottman, Mikita (2012). Burt, Jonathon (ed.). Hyena. Animate being. London, United kingdom: Reaktion Books. pp. 28–32. ISBN978-1-86189-9217.
  • Goodwin, George 1000. (1997). "Aardwolf". In Johnston, Bernard (ed.). Collier's Encyclopedia. Vol. I: A to Ameland (1st ed.). New York, NY: P.F. Collier.
  • Hoiberg, Dale H., ed. (2010). "Aardwolf". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. I: A-Ak - Bayes (15th ed.). Chicago, IL: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. ISBN978-1-59339-837-8.
  • Koehler, C. E.; Richardson, P. R. K. (1990). "Proteles cristatus". Mammalian Species. 363 (363): i–half-dozen. doi:10.2307/3504197. JSTOR 3504197.
  • Koepfli, Klaus-Peter; Jenks, Susan M.; Eizirik, Eduardo; Zahirpour, Tannaz; Van Valkenburgh, Blaire; Wayne, Robert K. (2006). "Molecular systematics of the Hyaenidae: Relationships of a Relictual Lineage Resolved past a Molecular Supermatrix". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 38 (3): 603–620. CiteSeerX10.i.1.529.1977. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2005.10.017. ISSN 1055-7903. PMID 16503281.
  • Mills, Gus; Harvey, Martin (2001). African Predators. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press. ISBN978-1-56098-096-4.
  • Nowak, Ronald M. (2005). Walker'due south Carnivores of the World . Baltimore, Physician: The Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN978-0-8018-8032-2.
  • Oxford English Dictionary Online (2013). "maanhaar". Oxford English Dictionary . Retrieved 23 April 2014.
  • Richardson, Phillip K. R.; Bearder, Simon K. (1984). "The Hyena Family". In MacDonald, David (ed.). The Encyclopedia of Mammals. New York, NY: Facts on File Publication. ISBN978-0-87196-871-5.
  • Rieger, Ingo (1990). "Hyenas". In Parker, Sybil P. (ed.). Grzimek's Encyclopedia of Mammals. Vol. 3. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Publishing Company. ISBN978-0-07-909508-4.
  • Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, Eastward. Southward. C., eds. (1989). "aard-wolf". The Oxford English Lexicon. Vol. I: A – Bazouki (2d ed.). Oxford, U.k.: Clarendon Press. ISBN978-0-19-861213-ane.
  • Wozencraft, W. C. (2005). "Order Carnivora". In Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. K. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 573. ISBN978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.

Further reading [edit]

  • Skinner, J. D.; Chimimba, Christian T. (2006). The Mammals of the Southern African Sub-region (3rd ed.). Cambridge University Printing. ISBN978-0-521-84418-5.

External links [edit]

  • Creature Variety Web
  • IUCN Hyaenidae Specialist Group Aardwolf pages on hyaenidae.org
  • Texts on Wikisource:
    • "Aard-wolf". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911.
    • "Aard-wolf". Collier'southward New Encyclopedia. 1921.

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Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aardwolf

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