The strange mammal known as the aardvark, which opens all of the English dictionaries, is unlike any other animal you could encounter while on safari. Despite being very widespread, sightings are extremely rare because to its shy and nocturnal habits.

Five Intriguing Facts:

In a single night, an aardvark may collect up to 50,000 ants with its ribbon-like, 30-cm-long tongue.
An aardvark can dig up to 60 cm in 15 seconds because to its strong limbs and claws that resemble spades. When it digs, it covers its nostrils to keep dust from getting inside.

Numerous other animals call abandoned aardvark burrows home. pythons, porcupines, untamed dogs and cats, and even the endangered blue swallow.

There is a whole scientific order dedicated to the aardvark. In the genus Orycteropus, the sole genus in the Orycteropidae family, it is the sole species. It is the only family in the Tubulidentata order.

They are frequently thought to be related to the anteaters of South America. However, the traits they share are the product of “convergent evolution” and are merely common adaptations to eating ants. They actually share a distant African progenitor with elephants, hyraxes, and dugongs, and are entirely unrelated to anteaters.