What animal is Arthur, from the TV series?
(Photo by Gary Oppenheim)
This African animal eats ants and termites–a very specialized diet.
Which do you think it prefers–ants or termites?
Ants. In the summer there are plenty of ants, but in the winter, ants are not as available, and Aardvarks eat more termites.
How do you think the Aardvark gets its food?
It digs for them.
(Photo by: Xenocryst)
Aardvarks have powerful limbs and shovel-like claws. They can dig rapidly.
They dig at night. They’re nocturnal.
Another thing that helps Aardvarks dig is the dense mat of hair around their nostrils, which filters out dust.
And when they catch ants, how they eat them depends on what kind of ants they find.
Aardvarks chew one species of ant with its molar teeth. But other ants and termites are swallowed whole. In fact, most of the food an Aardvark eats is swallowed without chewing.
Aardvarks can sort of chew in their stomachs, though.
Aardvarks have muscular stomachs, and grind their food inside.
(Photo by: Heather Paul)
What animal is Arthur?
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