tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7800809685910210879.post6431324788340257328..comments2016-11-12T00:15:27.613+00:00Comments on Female of the Species: Ethel the aardvark goes quantity surveyingCorinnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02510292249777697226noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7800809685910210879.post-84018916057124110022009-07-20T19:24:17.200+01:002009-07-20T19:24:17.200+01:00So adorably ugly.So adorably ugly.Roselhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16712160352016656586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7800809685910210879.post-8675913150176110222009-07-11T00:55:36.148+01:002009-07-11T00:55:36.148+01:00Bless!!!!!! I want one!
LizBless!!!!!! I want one!<br /><br />LizC-E Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01587050412146604186noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7800809685910210879.post-60718746789118540692009-07-10T13:46:10.832+01:002009-07-10T13:46:10.832+01:00I love where these things fit in terms of their ta...I love where these things fit in terms of their taxonomy. No relation to the Xenarthrans (armadillos, Latin American anteaters, sloths, and those giant sloths that I wish still lived around here. Thomas Jefferson hoped Lewis and Clark's expedition would find one!)<br /><br />They are also not related to the pangolins, which are actually more closely related to Carnivora than any other animals of this type.<br /><br />It turns out that aardvarks are close relatives of elephant shrews, which are also related to real elephants, sirenians (manatees, dugongs, and the Steller's sea cow), and hyraxes.<br /><br />Historically, though, all of these animals were in the same order Edentata, which means "without teeth."<br /><br />I have never seen even a photograph of a baby aardvark before. I bet it's happy that it precedes the aardwolf (a type of hyena, which is believed to be the missing link between hyenas and civets) in the dictionary.<br /><br />Aard means "earth" in Afrikaans, and "vark" means hog. Wolf in Afrikaans means "wolf." It's also used in their word for brown hyenas, which are called "Strandwolf." Strand is the Dutch, Afrikaans, and German word for beach. It's basis for our word "stranded." Brown hyenas hang out along the coast waiting for things to wash up on the beach, and they also harry fur seal colonies. Literally, they are beach wolves, even though they aren't dogs or wolves at all.Retrievermanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15780519136583108632noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7800809685910210879.post-89842786201207996992009-07-10T11:33:56.175+01:002009-07-10T11:33:56.175+01:00Wow, it bears such a strong resemblance to all hum...Wow, it bears such a strong resemblance to all human babies .... it's as ugly as hell.Sydhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15633341353878192556noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7800809685910210879.post-60325005495372656052009-07-09T20:24:47.319+01:002009-07-09T20:24:47.319+01:00As soon as Corinna showed us this baby pic, Maxy a...As soon as Corinna showed us this baby pic, Maxy and I started sqawking in baby talk. It is ridiculously cuteJon Downeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03467805661081755044noreply@blogger.com