Pangolins are mammals, and the name pangolin comes from the Malay word pengguling which means something that rolls up. They are found in tropical regions throughout Southern, Central and East Africa as well as Asia; and usually prefer sandy soils that are within reach of water.
Consider below, some amazing features of the animal often confused for a reptile.
1. Their scales are made up of keratin – the same material which our fingernails and hair are made of – and make up about 15% of their weight. Pangolins have small heads and long, broad tails. Though they have no external ears, their hearing is quite good.
2. Pangolins also have no teeth; instead, they have a gizzard-like stomach that is specially adapted for grinding food. They also consume small stones and sand to assist with grinding.
3. They live in hollow trees or burrows depending on the species. Most are nocturnal animals – that is, they remain in their burrows during the day and come out at night to hunt – but the long-tailed pangolin, also known as the black-bellied pangolin, is active by day.
4. Pangolins have very bad eyesight, but use their keen sense of smell to locate termite and ant nests. They dig insects from mounds using their claws, and eat them with their extremely long tongue which at over 40 centimetres long is longer than their bodies! Large salivary glands coat the tongue with gummy mucus to which ants and termites stick.
5. Pangolin limbs are stout and well adapted for digging. Each paw has five toes, and their forefeet have three long, curved, claws used to demolish the nests of termites and ants and to dig nesting and sleeping burrows. With their large, curved claws, they are able to both grip onto overhanging tree branches, and dig through concrete.
6. When threatened, they will cover their head with their front legs, exposing their scales to any potential predator. If touched or grabbed, they will roll up completely into a ball and use the sharp scales on their tails to lash out. They will also inflict serious wounds on anything inserted between their scales. In addition, they are also able to emit a noxious-smelling acid from glands near the anus, similar to the that of a skunk, though they are unable to spray the liquid.
7. Eight species of pangolins can be found on two continents – Africa and Asia.
Four species live in Africa: The black-bellied pangolin (Phataginus tetradactyla), White-bellied pangolin (Phataginus tricuspis), Giant Ground pangolin (Smutsia gigantea) and Temminck’s Ground pangolin (Smutsia temminckii).
Four species are found in Asia: The Indian pangolin (Manis crassicaudata), Philippine pangolin (Manis culionensis), Sunda pangolin (Manis javanica) and the Chinese pangolin (Manis pentadactyla).
8. All eight pangolin species are protected under national and international laws. Of these, two are listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN (The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) Red List of Threatened Species.
9. Also known as scaly anteaters because of their preferred diet, pangolins are the most trafficked animals in the world! This is the case because their meat and scales are increasingly being used as food and ingredients for traditional medicine.
10. It is presumed that pangolins have a lifespan of twenty years in the wild since the oldest recorded pangolin lived for 19 years in captivity. They are very rarely found in zoos because time spent in captivity tends to bring about stress, depression and malnutrition in them, leading ultimately to early death. As such, it is unknown how long a pangolin can live for.
