![](/template/termwiki/images/likesmall.jpg)
Home > Terms > English (EN) > aardwolf
aardwolf
The aardwolf (Proteles cristata) is a small, insectivorous mammal, native to East Africa and Southern Africa. Its name means "earth wolf" in the Afrikaans / Dutch language. It is also called "maanhaar jackal". The aardwolf is in the same family as the hyenas. Unlike its relatives in the order Carnivora, the aardwolf does not hunt large animals, or even eat meat on a regular basis; instead it eats insects, mainly termites - one aardwolf can eat about 200,000 termites during a single night by using its long, sticky tongue to capture them.
The aardwolf is the only surviving species in the mammalian subfamily Protelinae. There are two subspecies: Proteles cristatus cristatus of Southern Africa and Proteles cristatus septentrionalis of East Africa.
The aardwolf is usually classified with the Hyaenidae, though it was formerly placed into the family Protelidae. The aardwolf lives in the scrublands of eastern and southern Africa - these are open lands covered with stunted trees and shrubs. Aardwolves usually hide in burrows during the day, and then they come out at night to seek food. Their diet nearly always consists of termites, insect larvae, and the carrion of larger animals.
Other Languages:
Member comments
Terms in the News
Billy Morgan
Sports; Snowboarding
The British snowboarder Billy Morgan has landed the sport’s first ever 1800 quadruple cork. The rider, who represented Great Britain in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, was in Livigno, Italy, when he achieved the man-oeuvre. It involves flipping four times, while body also spins with five complete rotations on a sideways or downward-facing axis. The trick ...
Marzieh Afkham
Broadcasting & receiving; News
Marzieh Afkham, who is the country’s first foreign ministry spokeswoman, will head a mission in east Asia, the state news agency reported. It is not clear to which country she will be posted as her appointment has yet to be announced officially. Afkham will only be the second female ambassador Iran has had. Under the last shah’s rule, Mehrangiz Dolatshahi, a ...
Weekly Packet
Language; Online services; Slang; Internet
Weekly Packet or "Paquete Semanal" as it is known in Cuba is a term used by Cubans to describe the information that is gathered from the internet outside of Cuba and saved onto hard drives to be transported into Cuba itself. Weekly Packets are then sold to Cuban's without internet access, allowing them to obtain information just days - and sometimes hours - after it ...
Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)
Banking; Investment banking
The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is an international financial institution established to address the need in Asia for infrastructure development. According to the Asian Development Bank, Asia needs $800 billion each year for roads, ports, power plants or other infrastructure projects before 2020. Originally proposed by China in 2013, a signing ...
Spartan
Online services; Internet
Spartan is the codename given to the new Microsoft Windows 10 browser that will replace Microsoft Windows Internet Explorer. The new browser will be built from the ground up and disregard any code from the IE platform. It has a new rendering engine that is built to be compatible with how the web is written today. The name Spartan is named after the ...
Featured Terms
lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD)
Lysergic acid diethylamide, abbreviated LSD or LSD-25, also known as lysergide (INN) and colloquially as acid, is a psychedelic drug of the ergoline ...
Contributor
Featured blossaries
Xena
0
Terms
7
Blossaries
3
Followers
Tailor Swift Songs and Albums
![](/template/termwiki/images/likesmall.jpg)
![](https://accounts.termwiki.com/thumb1.php?f=taylor-swift-1380501692.jpg&width=304&height=180)
Browers Terms By Category
- Osteopathy(423)
- Acupuncture(18)
- Alternative psychotherapy(17)
- Ayurveda(9)
- Homeopathy(7)
- Naturopathy(3)
Alternative therapy(489) Terms
- Medicine(68317)
- Cancer treatment(5553)
- Diseases(4078)
- Genetic disorders(1982)
- Managed care(1521)
- Optometry(1202)
Health care(89875) Terms
- Wedding gowns(129)
- Wedding cake(34)
- Grooms(34)
- Wedding florals(25)
- Royal wedding(21)
- Honeymoons(5)
Weddings(254) Terms
- General seafood(50)
- Shellfish(1)
Seafood(51) Terms
- Capacitors(290)
- Resistors(152)
- Switches(102)
- LCD Panels(47)
- Power sources(7)
- Connectors(7)