Pholidota (Pangolins)

(vertebrate zoology) An order of mammals comprising the living pangolins and their fossil predecessors; characterized by an elongate tubular skull with no teeth, a long protrusive tongue, strong legs, and five-toed feet with large claws.

Pangolins

(Manidae)

Class: Mammalia

Order: Pholidota

Family: Manidae

Number of families: 1

Thumbnail description
Mostly nocturnal ant- and termite-eating animals with a long and tapered body shape; they possess a unique body cover consisting of enormously overlapping scales that are movable and sharp edged (because of this they are also known as scaly anteaters); they have no teeth in their elongated heads but do have extremely long, protrusible tongues for catching prey

Size
Head and body length 12–35 in (30–90 cm), tail length 10–35 in (26–88 cm), and weight 2–77 lb (1–35 kg)

Number of genera, species
1 genus; 7 species

Habitat
Southern and Southeast Asia, tropical and subtropical parts of Africa

Conservation status
Lower Risk/Near Threatened: 4 species

Distribution
Tropics and transitional zones (subtropics) bordering the tropics to the north and south; sufficient numbers of ants and termites is paramount to survival, and is the overriding factor as to whether they will remain in a locality

Resources

Burnie, David, and Don E. Wilson, eds. Animal. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, 2001.

Feldhamer, George A., Lee C. Drickamer, Stephen H. Vessey, and Joseph F. Merritt, eds. Mammalogy: Adaptation, Diversity, and Ecology. Boston: WCB McGraw-Hill, 1999.

Gould, Dr. Edwin, and Dr. George McKay, eds. Encyclopedia of Mammals. 2nd ed. San Diego: Academic Press, 1998.

Honacki, James H., Kenneth E. Kinman, and James W. Koeppl, eds. Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. 2nd ed. Lawrence, KS: Allen Press and the Association of Systematics Collections, 1982.

Macdonald, David., ed. The Encyclopedia of Mammals. New York: Facts on File, 1984.

Martin, Robert Eugene. A Manual of Mammalogy: With Keys to Families of the World. 3rd ed. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill, 2001.

Nowak, Ronald M. Walker's Mammals of the World, volume II, 6th ed. Baltimore and London: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999.

Special Publications Division (prepared by). National Geographic Book of Mammals. Washington, DC: National Geographic Society, 1981.

Whitfield, Dr. Philip. Macmillan Illustrated Animal Encyclopedia. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1984.

Wilson, Don E., and DeeAnn M. Reeder, eds. Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. 2nd ed. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1993.

Gebo, Daniel L., and D. Tab Rasmussen. "The Earliest Fossil Pangolin (Philodota: Manidae) From Africa." Journal of Mammology 66 (1985): 538–541.

Sunquist, Fiona. "Two Species, One Design." International Wildlife 26 (1996): 28–33.

Animal Diversity Web. Museum of Zoology, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan. [June 13, 2003].

[Article by: William Arthur Atkins]

An order of mammals comprising the living pangolins, or scaly anteaters, and their poorly known fossil predecessors. All living pangolins are assigned to the genus Manis. They are found in Africa south of the Sahara and in southeastern Asia, including certain islands of the East Indies.

Pangolins feed principally on termites and ants. The elongate tubular skull without teeth, long protrusive tongue, small eyes with heavy eyelids, thick skin, strong legs, five-toed feet with large claws, and large tail enable these unique animals to rip open ant nests and termite dens and devour the animals therein. The greatest peculiarity of animals in the genus Manis is a covering of all but the undersides of the body by an armor of large imbricating dermal horny scales. Living pangolins are frequently characterized as being animated pine cones. The position and number of hairs in relation to the scales are peculiar to each modern species. See also Mammalia.