18 March: National Aardvark Week

We're in the middle of National aardvark week, so here are some facts about aardvarks:

1. Aardvark is often quoted as the first word in an English dictionary, although that isn't necessarily true. Often the first entry is the letter A and the indefinite article "a". A comprehensive dictionary may include some other obscure words before it gets to the aardvark - aa, meaning a stream or watercourse, aal, from Hindi, the Indian mulberry tree, aapa, from Urdu, meaning older sister.
2. The dictionary defines the aardvark as a medium-sized, burrowing, nocturnal mammal native to Africa. "Medium sized" being between 105 and 130 centimetres (3.44–4.27 ft) long and weighing between 60 and 80 kilograms (130–180 lb). It has a long snout, rather like that of a Pig, to sniff out food, and a 30cm long, sticky tongue.
3. The word aardvark comes from Afrikaans and means "earth pig" or "ground pig" and they are sometimes known colloquially as "African ant bear", "anteater" or the "Cape anteater". They are not, however, closely related to anteaters or pigs. The closest living relatives of the aardvark are elephant shrews, golden moles, and, according to some sources, Elephants.
4. Aardvarks have powerful feet and claws, which look rather like spades, adapted for digging. They do a lot of that. They dig for food, they make burrows to live in and they even dig to escape from predators (such as Lions, leopards, hunting dogs, hyenas, pythons and even humans in places) as they can dig very fast - they can dig a yard of tunnel in about five minutes. Another adaptation which helps them here is that they not only have thick hairs around their nostrils to filter out insects and dust, but can close their nostrils off while they dig.
5. They eat ants. And Termites. An aardvark can eat up to 60 000 ants and termites in one night, but they avoid eating the African driver ant and red ants. The only plant an aardvark ever eats is the aardvark cucumber. The fruit provides the moisture in the aardvark's diet while the seeds are made more fertile by spending time in an aardvark's gut, as well as being deposited near the burrows where there is loose and fertile soil to grow in.
6. They are largely solitary creatures and don't make much noise other than grunts as they forage and a bleating sound when frightened. There is, nevertheless a collective noun for aardvarks - an armoury.
7. African folklore celebrates the aardvark because of its diligent quest for food and its fearless response to soldier ants. Charms made from the heart, skin, forehead, and nails of the aardvark are said to give the wearer the ability to walk through walls, so they are popular with burglars and young men who want to sneak in to visit their girlfriends at night without her parents knowing!
8. The most famous fictional aardvark is called Arthur, who is the star of a popular children's book and TV series.
9. The unidentified animal associated with the Egyptian god Set is thought by many scholars to resemble an aardvark.
10. They don't have great eyesight, but have very keen hearing and sense of smell.

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