ツチブタ (Orycteropus afer) は中型の食虫動物で、サハラ以南のアフリカのあらゆる場所に生息している。ピンクがかった灰色の皮膚にはゴワゴワした毛がまばらに生えており、大きくてスレンダーな耳と、鼻先がブタのようになった細長い頭が特徴である。オスはメスよりわずかに大きいが、いずれも一般的な個体は体長 105～130cm、尻尾の長さ 60～70cm、体重 40～65kg 程度。
Latin Name
Orycteropus afer
Featured
false
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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.