The unusual mammal called the aardvark was named by South Africans in the early 1800s. In the local language, Afrikaans, “aardvark” means “earth pig.” This name aptly describes a large, heavily built animal with thin hair and short, stumpy legs. The scientific name of the aardvark is Orycteropus afer. Aardvarks live in dry places in Africa south of the Sahara Desert. The aardvark can reach a length of 6 feet (1.8 meters). Its head has huge donkeylike ears, a long snout, and drooping eyelids with long lashes. During the day aardvarks sleep in underground burrows. At night they dig underground for their favorite food, termites. They break open the termites’ nests with their massive, flattened claws. Then they suck up the insects with their long tongue.

Female aardvarks give birth to one baby per year. After a few weeks the baby begins to follow its mother around. It goes off on its own before it is 1 year old. Aardvarks can live for more than 20 years in zoos.