Updated 05-May-2020.
Mondo shtuff from around the internet, all about AARDWOLF!
My botty best at summarizing from Wikipedia: the aardwolf is an insectivorous mammal native to East and Southern africa . its name means “earth-wolf” in Afrikaans and Dutch . it is in the same family as the hy the aardwolf lives in the shrublands of eastern and southern africa . it is nocturnal, resting in burrows during the day and emerging at night to seek food . scientists thought it was merely mimic the specific name, cristatus, comes from Latin and means “provided with a comb”, relating to their mane . the mane is raised during confrontations to make the aardwolf appear larger the aardwolf is about 55 to 80 cm (22 to 31 in) long, excluding its bushy tail . it stands about 40 to 50 cm (16 to 20 in) tall at the shoulders . an adult a as an aardwolf ages, it will normally lose some of its teeth . due to their specific food requirements, they are only found in regions where termites of the family Hodotermitidae occur aardwolves spend most of the year in shared territories . the species does not occur in the intermediary miombo forests . there are two distinct populations: one in southern africa and another in east and northeast africa . the majority of incursions occur during mating season, when they can occur once or twice per week . when food is scarce, the stringent territorial system may be abandoned and as many as three pairs may occupy a “s mark near termite mounds within their territory every 20 minutes or so . aardwolf pair may have up to 10 dens and numerous feces middens . when they deposit excreta at mid their dens are abandoned aardvark, springhare, or porcupine dens, or on occasion they are crevices in rocks . they will also dig their own dens or enlarge dens the aardwolf may attempt to mislead its foe by doubling back on its tracks . it also emits a foul-smelling liquid from its anal glands . this genus of termites an aardwolf may consume up to 250,000 termites per night using its long, sticky tongue . they do not destroy the termite mound or consume the entire colony . the primary termites become scarce during certain the southern aardwolf seeks out a type of harvester termite active in the afternoon . they are known to feed on insects, larvae, eggs, and occasionally small mammals and birds . unlike other h the adult aardwolf was formerly assumed to forage in small groups . but more recent research has shown that they are primarily solitary foragers . their primary source, Trinervitermes, forages in dominant males mate opportunistically with females of less dominant neighboring aardwolves . females will mate with dominant male, which increases chances of dominant male guarding cubs the male may spend up to six hours a night watching over the cubs while the mother is out looking for food . after three months, they begin supervised foraging and by four months are normally independent . by the time aardwolves achieve sexual maturity at one and a half to two years of age . they maintain a density of no more than 1 per square kilometer, if food is abundant . in some areas, they are per the oldest recorded aardwolf in captivity at 18 years and 11 months . dog bites and insecticides are also common killers . “Proteles cristatus: Aardwolf”. IUCN Retrieved 22 March 2009.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)old-form url Anon (1998). Wildlife Fact File. Group 1. IMP Publishing Ltd. Card 144. ISBN 978-1886614772 Burt, Jonathon (ed.). Hyena. Animal. London, UK: Reaktion Books. pp. Goodwin, George G. (1997). “Aardwolf”. In Johnston, Bernard (ed.). Collier’s Encyclopedia. A to Ameland (1st ed.). New York, NY: P.F. Collier.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link) Hoiberg, Dale H. (2010). “A A-Ak – Bayes (15th ed.). Chicago, IL: Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc. ISBN 978-1-59339-837-8.CS1 main doi:10.2307/3504197.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link) Koepfli, Klaus-Peter; Jenks, Susan M.; Eizirik, Eduardo; Za 38 (3): 603–620. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.529.1977. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2005.10.017. ISSN 1055-7903. P Smithsonian Institution Press. ISBN 978-1-56098-096-4.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link) Nowak, Ronald M. (2005). Walker’s Carnivores of the “maanhaar”. Oxford English Dictionary. Retrieved 23 April 2014.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link) Richardson, Phillip K. R.; Bearder, Simon K. (1984). “The Hy Encyclopedia of Mammals. New York, NY: Facts on File Publication. ISBN 978-0-87196-871-5.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link) Rieger, Ingo (1990 Grzimek’s Encyclopedia of Mammals. 3. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0-07-909508-4.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link) “aard-wolf”. The Oxford English Dictionary. I: A — Bazouki (2nd ed.). Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press. ISBN 978-0-19-861213-1.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link) Wozencraft, W.C. (2005). “Order Carni Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 573. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-84418-5. Retrieved 15 March 2013. Collier’s New Encyclopedia. 1921. “Aard-wolf” . 1922. “Battle of the wolves”: a satirical novel .