Their teeth grow in special shapes! Aardvark teeth are made of thousands of thin tubes shaped like hexagons. They don’t have enamel like human teeth, and their teeth keep growing their whole lives! 🦷

They have super-strong noses! Aardvarks can smell ants and termites several feet underground. They have more bones in their snout than any other mammal, giving them a sense of smell even better than a dog’s! This helps them find food in total darkness. 🐽

They dig incredibly fast! With strong front legs and shovel-like claws, aardvarks can dig faster than a human with a shovel. They can dig a whole burrow in minutes, and some burrows stretch over 30 feet long! 🔨

They have no close relatives! Aardvarks are the only living species in their scientific group, which means they have no close animal relatives. Their closest living relatives are elephant shrews. 🐭

Other animals depend on them! Aardvarks are a keystone species, meaning many animals rely on them. Warthogs, porcupines, hyenas, pangolins, and even small antelope use aardvark burrows for shelter and to stay cool! 🐷

They barely use their eyes! Aardvarks have very poor eyesight and can only see blurry shapes. Bright lights hurt their eyes, so they are mostly active at night. They rely on smell, hearing, and sensitive whiskers to move around. 🕶️

Their tongues are long and sticky! An aardvark’s tongue can stretch up to 12 inches long and is covered in sticky saliva. When they put their tongue into an ant or termite nest, insects stick to it. They can eat up to 50,000 insects in one night! 👅

They can save energy when food is scarce! During droughts or food shortages, aardvarks can slow their bodies down and stay underground for days to save energy. 😴

They’re tougher than they look! Aardvarks can protect themselves by scratching predators with their claws or kicking hard. But most of the time, they escape by digging and disappearing underground! 🫣