Skip to content
Vinony
English
EnglishBahasa IndonesiaDeutschEspañolFrançaisItalianoNederlandsPolskiPortuguêsSvenskaTiếng ViệtTürkçeРусскийالعربيةفارسیहिन्दी한국어中文日本語
Aardwolf

File:Aardwolf,_Buffalo_Springs_National_Park,_Kenya_1_(cropped).jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons

EntityQ185295· pop 70· linked from 577 articles

Aardwolf

Sign in to save

Also known as Proteles cristata, Proteles cristatus, maanhaar-jackal, termite-eating hyena, civet hyena

The aardwolf (Proteles cristatus) is an insectivorous hyaenid species, native to East and Southern Africa. Its name means 'earth-wolf' in Afrikaans and Dutch. It is also called the maanhaar-jackal (Afrikaans for 'mane-jackal'), termite-eating hyena and civet hyena, based on its habit of secreting substances from its anal gland, a characteristic shared with the African civet.

OverviewAI-generated

The aardwolf, scientifically named Proteles cristata, is a species of mammal. It is also referred to by the common name Southern Aardwolf. The animal has a mass of 10 and a bite force quotient of 77. Its gestation period lasts 91 days, and it typically has a litter size of 3. The longest observed lifespan for this species is 20 years.

According to the IUCN Red List, the aardwolf was assessed as Least Concern in 2015. The species is not extinct. On the iNaturalist platform, there are 586 recorded observations of the aardwolf.

Synthesized by Vinony from 17 facts across 4 sources: Wikidata, iNaturalist, IUCN Red List, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Species

Least Concern

Southern Aardwolf

species

Observations586

Maximum longevity: 20 years (captivity) Observations: One wild born female was about 20 years old when she died in captivity (Richard Weigl 2005).

via IUCN

~13 min read

Encyclopedic overview

15 sections
Contents
  • Taxonomy
  • Etymology
  • Description
  • Distribution and habitat
  • Behavior and ecology
  • Feeding
  • Breeding
  • Conservation
  • In captivity
  • Notes
  • References
  • Footnotes
  • Sources cited
  • Further reading
  • External links

The aardwolf (Proteles cristatus) is an insectivorous hyaenid species, native to East and Southern Africa. Its name means 'earth-wolf' in Afrikaans and Dutch. It is also called the maanhaar-jackal (Afrikaans for 'mane-jackal'), termite-eating hyena and civet hyena, based on its habit of secreting substances from its anal gland, a characteristic shared with the African civet.

Unlike many of its relatives in the order Carnivora, the aardwolf does not hunt large animals. It eats insects and their larvae, mainly termites; one aardwolf can lap up as many as 300,000 termites during a single night using its long, sticky tongue. The aardwolf's tongue has adapted to be tough enough to withstand the strong bite of termites.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Aardwolf” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Gallery (293)

Available in 68 languages

Show 49 more

via Wikidata sitelinks · CC0