The custom of naming newly discovered animals after well-known forms to which they are supposed to bear some resemblance, physically or otherwise, is a common one. The animal now under consideration shows this once more, having originally received the name of AARD-VARK (Earth-pig) from the Boers of the Cape. The aard-vark is a most decidedly ugly animal, and justifies its name in several particulars. It is hunted for the sake of its hide, which is of great thickness and resembles that of the pig, but is sparsely covered with hairs, the general shape of its body being not unlike that of a long-headed, short-legged, heavy-tailed pig. The whole animal is about 6 feet long. In a wild state, or even in captivity, it is but rarely seen, since it is a night-feeder, and passes the day in sleep deep down in a burrow. This burrow it digs for itself with the aid of powerful claws borne on the fore feet. It lives principally on ants and termites, breaking down their nests, and remorselessly sweeping up the frightened occupants with a long, sticky tongue, as soon as they rush to the seat of the disturbance which has broken up the harmony and order of their community. At one time it was believed that the aard-vark was a close ally of the pangolian, but later researches with disproved this, and have furthermore thrown doubt upon the probability of its relationship with any of the members of this group of mammals at all.
There are two species of this animal- the CAPE AARD-VARK of South and Southeast Africa, and the ETHIOPIAN AARD-VARK of northeast Africa.
Where the nest-building ants are most common, there will the aard-vark - or Innagus, as the Boers sometimes call it - be most plentiful. The nests of these ants are huge structures of from 3 to 7 feet high, and often occupy vast areas of ground, extending as far as the eye can reach. They are substantially built, and swarm with occupants, and consequently are quite worth raiding. But the aard-vark has become much less common since a price has been set upon its skin. The powers of digging of these animals are so great that they can completely bury their large bodies in a few minutes, even when the ground has been baked by the sun into something like adamantine hardness. In excavating their burrows, the ground is thrown out by the fore feet, in huge lumps, through or rather between the hind legs. Shy and suspicious, the least unusual sound will send them scuttling to earth, for their sense of hearing is very keen. They seem to change their minds somewhat frequently, when engaged in digging out a new burrow; for half-excavated burrows in the side of ant-hills are very commonly met with. A fully grown aard-vark is about 6 feet long - generally rather more. Although this animal is infrequently kept in captivity, it is rarely seen by visitors, owing to its nocturnal habits, of which we have already spoken.
The teeth of the aard-vark are sufficiently remarkable to justify notice here. Only the crushing teeth are represented- that is to say, the front or cutting teeth are conspicuous by their absence. These crushing teeth number from eight to ten in the upper and eight in the lower jaw, on each side; but in the adult fewer would be found, the number being reduced to five in each side of the jaws - that is to say, there are but twenty all told. In structure these teeth are quite remarkable, differing entirely from those of all other mammals, and resembling those of some fishes; furthermore, they have no "roots", but instead grow continually throughout life, which "rooted" teeth do not.
