Aardvark
Amazing fact
An aardvark’s back teeth are made of clustered tubes and keep growing throughout its life.
上野動物園
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An illustration based on the real animal.
A little discovery to share.
An aardvark’s back teeth are made of clustered tubes and keep growing throughout its life.
THE REAL WORLD
The real Aardvark
- Scientific name
- Orycteropus afer
- Japanese name
- ツチブタ
- Group
- Land mammals
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Tubulidentata
- Family
- Orycteropodidae
- Genus
- Orycteropus
It lives on the savannas and grasslands of Africa. Although its Japanese name contains the word for pig, it is not related to pigs.
It is active at night and digs burrows with its strong claws to live in. In search of food, it sometimes walks long distances during the night.
How the Aardvark lives
It pauses at its burrow entrance and looks around before running out. It digs into ant and termite nests while eating. It swallows its food with little or no chewing.
University of Michigan Animal Diversity WebBasic data
- Size
- Head and body length: 100–158 cmShoulder height: 60–65 cm
- Weight
- 40–100 kg
- Active
- At night (nocturnal)
- Diet
- Ants and termites
- Range
- Much of Africa south of the Sahara
Where the Aardvark has been recorded
Records: GBIF.org (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 records, retrieved 2026-11-07). Map: Natural EarthSee the records on GBIF
Watch wild animals from a distance. Do not touch or feed them, and take care of the places where they live.
Names around the world
- 日本語
- ツチブタ
- 简体中文
- 土豚
- 繁體中文
- 土豚
- 한국어
- 땅돼지
- Español
- Oricteropo
- Français
- Oryctérope
- Deutsch
- Erdferkel
- Português (Brasil)
- Aardvark
- Italiano
- Oritteropo
- हिन्दी
- भू-शूकर
- العربية
- خنزير الأرض
- Bahasa Indonesia
- Aardvark
- Русский
- Трубкозуб
- Türkçe
- Yerdomuzu
- ไทย
- อาร์ดวาร์ก
- বাংলা
- আর্ডভার্ক
- اردو
- آرڈوارک
Names come from Wikidata and iNaturalist records. Where a language has no recorded name, we use the scientific name.
Sources and how we check
- 上野動物園 — ツチブタChecked: 2026-11-03
- University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web — Orycteropus aferChecked: 2026-11-03
We check each fact against its source. The illustrations simplify how the real animal looks.
The classification (class, order, family, genus) follows Wikidata records, checked against GBIF. Classifications can change as research goes on.
The basic data are the values given in each source. They vary with how the animal is measured, whether it is male or female, and whether it lives in the wild or in captivity.
This page was translated from the original Japanese with the help of AI.
Report a mistakeWhen you meet the Aardvark, look for this
- Look for its long nose, which is wider at the tip.
Animals do different things from day to day, so you may not always see this.
University of Michigan Animal Diversity WebEXHIBIT INFORMATION
Places that keep or show the Aardvark
Zoos, aquariums and other places whose official websites say they keep or show this animal.
Displays can change with the animals’ health and the seasons. Check each facility’s official website before you go.
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