The feeding ecology of the aardvark Orycteropus afer

A fossil aardvark (Mammalia, Tubulidentata) from the lower Pliocene of Chad

“…sp., the active surface available for chewing on the mandible is significantly longer than in O. afer. Noticeably, extant aardvarks rarely chew their food (Taylor et al, 2002). Moreover, and like many other extant anteaters, the aardvark possesses a gizzard-like organ for grinding up the insects (Melton, 1976).…”

Ant composition and activity patterns as determined by pitfall trapping and other methods in three habitats in the semi-arid Karoo

“…Ants represent the dominant dietary component of the aardvark across all seasons and habitats in the southern Karoo (Taylor, 1998;Lindsey, 1999). The present study aim was to determine temporal and spatial patterns in the availability of potential aardvark food.…”

Phanerozoic evolution of plants on the African plate

“…One of the most remarkable plant-animal seed dispersal systems on the African continent is that which has evolved between Cucumis humifructus, a rare annual member of the cucumber family (Cucurbitaceae) that fruits underground, a phenomenon known as geocarpy, and the aardvark (Orycteropus afer), only living member of the mammalian order Tubulidentata (Hollmann et al, 1995). Although the cucumber is dependant on the aardvark for survival, the aardvark is not at all dependent on the cucumber as it feeds almost exclusively on ants and termites (Taylor et al, 2002).…”