L'oritteropo (o Orycteropus afer) è un insettivoro di medie dimensioni dell'Africa subsahariana. Ha una pelle grigio rosacea con pelo ruvido e rado, orecchie grandi e sottili e una testa allungata che finisce in un grugno simile a quello dei maiali. I maschi sono leggermente più grandi delle femmine, ma entrambi i sessi raggiungono solitamente una lunghezza compresa tra i 105 e i 130 centimetri. La coda è lunga tra i 60 e i 70 centimetri e il peso oscilla tra i 40 e i 65 chili.
Latin Name
Orycteropus afer
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aardvark
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Animal Facts
Aardvarks only have four toes on their front legs, possibly adapted to form ‘shovel like’ feet for digging.
Aardvarks have a symbiotic relationship with a species called the ‘aardvark cucumber’, a plant which grows underground and depends entirely on the aardvark for the dispersal of its seeds. The cucumber is the only non-insect food that the aardvark eats.
Female aardvarks have a white tail tip, believed to make it easier for their cub to follow them in the darkness of their burrows and during foraging.
The tongue of the aardvark is 30cm long, sticky and is used to track through tunnels of ant and termite hills to collect many insects at once.
Abandoned aardvark burrows are important habitats for other animals – mostly warthogs and hyenas.