THE 



ENGLISH CYCLOPEDIA. 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



AARD-VARK. 



AARD-VARK. 



A ARD-VARK (Orycteropus, Geoffrey), in Zoology, a genus of 

 ** animal* belonging to the class Mammalia, and order Edentata. 



The Orycteropus is now separated from the ifyrmecophaya, or 

 Ant-Eaters of Linnscus, with which it had been formerly associated. 

 In its anatomical structure it bears a much closer relation to the 

 armadillos than to any other quadrupeds, not even excepting the 

 ant-eaters, with which it was formerly associated. Like these animals, 

 the Orycteropus is provided with large and powerful claws, for digging 

 up roots and injects, and for forming subterraneous burrows; and, 

 like them, has neither incisors nor canine teeth. Its molar teeth, 

 however, are altogether peculiar, both in form and structure, and 

 have i nice to the teeth of any other known animal. Of 



these there are five large ones on each side (both in the upper and 

 under jaws), which are always permanent ; and a variable number of 

 from one to three smaller ones, placed in front of the others, and appa- 

 rently representing the false molars of ordinary quadrupeds. The first 

 of the large molars is smaller than any of the other four, and of a 

 cylindrical form, somewhat compressed or flattened on the sides; the 

 second is rounder; the third and fourth are each composed of two 

 similar cylinders, as it were, soldered together; and the last is a 

 simple cylinder, like the first and second. Immediately in front of 



;ire the small or false molars, which, fulling annually, vary in 

 number according to the individual. Properly speaking, the teeth 

 of these animals are destitute of real roots, and are therefore, like 

 the tusks of the elephant, and the incisors of the rodentia, capable of 

 being indefinitely increased, by the deposit of new matter on the 

 under extremity, to counterbalance the continual wear of the upper 

 surface. 



In the form of the extremities the Orycteroput resembles the 

 armadillos still more nearly than in the nature of its dental system. 

 The legs are remarkably short and stout ; the feet plantigrade (that 

 is to say, the animal walks upon the whole sole of the foot, as man and 

 the bear, instead of bringing the point of the toe only in contact with 

 the ground, as may be observed in the dog, horse, &c.); and the toes, 

 of which there are four on the fore feet and five on the hind, are 



' 1 with extremely large and powerful claws, flattened horizon- 

 tally, and scooped or hollowed out on the under surface, so as to form 

 a most efficient instrument for digging and burrowing beneath the 

 surface of the earth. This process is still further facilitated by the 



le form of the anterior extremities, arising from the unequal 

 length of the toes ; the two interior being considerably longer than 

 the others, and the whole diminishing gradually from the index (or 

 toe corresponding with the fore-finger) outwards. In other parts of 

 its anatomy the Oryctcropux resembles both the armadillos and the 

 ant-eaters, and particularly in the form and structure of the stomach 

 and alimentary canal. The reader who is desirous of further informa- 

 tion upon these subjects may consult Cuvier's ' Lecons d' Anatomie 

 ('"mnaree,' and his great work, 'Sur lea Ossemens Fossiles,' from 

 which the details here given are for the most part abridged. 



The only species of this curious genus with which zoologists are at 

 present acquainted is the Aard-Vark (Orycteropu* Capcntit). It is an 

 animal extremely common in some parts of Southern Africa, though, 

 from it nocturnal habits and extreme timidity, it is not so frequently 

 een as many others which are in reality scarcer. Its colonial name 

 of aard-vark, or earth-pig, by which it is known among the Dutch 

 inhabitants of the Cape of Good Hope, is derived as well from its 



of burrowing as from the general appearance which it bears, at 



HAT. BIST. DIV. VOL. I. 



first sight, to a small, short-legged pig. This animal, when full grown, 

 measures about three feet five inches from the snout to the origin of 

 the tail ; the head is eleven inches long ; the ears six inches ; and the 

 tail one foot nine inches. The head is long and attenuated ; the upper 

 jaw projects beyond the lower, and ends, as in the common hog, in 

 a truncated callous snout, having the nostrils pierced in the end of 

 it ; the mouth is small for the size of the animal, and the tongue flat 

 and slender, not cylindrical as in the true ant-eaters, nor capable of 

 being protruded to such an extent as in these animals : it is, however, 



Aard-Vark (Orycteropus Capenais], 



covered in like manner with a glutinous saliva, which firmly retains 

 the ants, upon which the animal lives, and prevents those which once 

 come in contact with it from escaping afterwards. The ears are large, 

 erect, and pointed; and the eyes, which are of moderate size, are 

 situated between them and the snout, about two-thirds of the distance 

 from the extremity of the latter. The body of the aard-vark is thick 

 and corpulent ; the limbs short and remarkably strong ; the hide 

 thick, tough, and nearly naked, having only a few stiff hairs, of a 

 pale reddish-brown colour, thinly scattered over it, excepting on the 

 hips and thighs, where they are more numerous than elsewhere. The 

 tail is about half the length of the body and head together, and, like 

 the body, is nearly naked ; it is extremely thick and cylindrical at the 

 base, but decreases gradually towards the extremity, and ends in a sharp 

 point. 



Thus formed, the aard-vark is in all respects admirably fitted for the 

 station which nature has assigned to it in the grand economy of the 

 animal kingdom. It feeds entirely upon ants, and in this respect 

 fulfils the same purposes in Southern Africa which is executed by the 

 Pangolins in Asia, the Myrmccophaga in America, and the Echidna in 

 Australia. 



These insects raise mounds of an elliptical figure, to the height of 

 three or four feet above the surface of the ground ; and so numerous 



