Mammals in armor are not very common in nature. You could think about turtles, of course, who carry their shell on their backs but they look nothing like this large animal in shining knight’s armor!
Let’s talk about something that you never knew about the pangolin – the most amazing facts about this four-legged knight in the shiny armor!
Taste the life – stay with Jiji!
Who is who?
It has a squat body, triangular elongated snout with small eyes, strong short legs with powerful curved claws, and, of course, a shell having a complex structure.
The parts of the armor are connected with soft tissue, providing mobility. The armor consists of horny plates.
Pangolin | World’s Weirdest
With its giant digging claws, the pangolin is nature’s backhoe. And a long, sticky tongue – capable of slurping up thousands of ants or termites every day – makes it the scourge of the bug world.
Excellent hearing, terrible eyesight
The vision of this animal is disappointing: it does not distinguish between the colors at all, but its hearing is very good. It also has a very strong sense of smell: it can feel the prey at a depth of 20 cm in the soil.
The biggest one
The largest is the giant pangolin – the animal weighs up to 50 kg and its body length is more than a meter. Its natural habitat is Guiana and Brazil, some of them can be found in Paraguay too. The musky smell of the giant pangolin’s meat is so strong that Indians even stopped eating it.
Giant Ground Pangolin (Smutsia gigantea)
Hello ladies and gentlemen today we shall be chatting about the Giant ground pangolin the largest species of pangolin. This highly adaptable and lovely creature has recently come under threat of extinction due to over hunting. If you enjoy this little video feel free to comment, like and subscribe and enjoy the rest of your day.
The smallest one
The smallest member of the family is pink fairy pangolin. He barely reaches 15 cm in length and weighs less than 90 grams.
Pangolin as a pet
Wanna have a pangolin pet? It relatively easy since the animal is quite gentle, and the people who live under the same roof with it, claim that it is the sweetest and the most affectionate animal ever!
However, for the animals’ comfortable life at your home, you need to invest a lot of money.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mR3rReuBO_s
How does the pangolin taste?
Except for the giant pangolin, all other types of pangolin meat in South America are considered to be a tasty delicacy. The meat is rubbed with salt, sprinkled with pepper and other spices and roasted in the shell on the coals.
Gourmets say that pangolin meat is tender and white, like that of a chicken, and its fat resembles the fat of calf kidneys.
How does it “make love”?
One of the most curious pangolins facts is that how they make love!
They normally do it “face to face”. It is unlikely that such a choice was made due to intimate preferences, rather it is a necessity dictated by such an obstacle as a solid shell.
How does it fight?
At the slightest danger the pangolin rolls into a ball immediately and it’s difficult to get to it. Using its claws, it can also bury itself in the ground.
Hiding at a depth of 20-30 centimeters, this animal does not curl up, but on the contrary, straightens its shell and anchors with it in the ground making it impossible to pull it off the ground.
Another defense mechanism that gave them the nickname “speed bump” in Texas – is the pangolin’s abrupt and high vertical jump preformed in order to scare predators.
Leopard plays with pangolin
Uploaded by Nostalgic Africa Imagery on 2016-05-31.
What does it feed on?
It eats insects, larvae, ants, termites.
Rescue rehabilitation: pangolin learning to hunt for ants
Chinese pangolin research team, Taiwan National Pingtung University of Science and Technology Video courtesy of Nick Ching-Min Sun
The main enemies
These are wolves, coyotes, cougars, dogs, people, and vehicles since a lot of pangolins get killed on the roads under the wheels of cars at night.
Most hunted!
Most of these animals become hunted because of their tasty meat. Some are killed by ranchers; a certain number of them were killed as the laboratory animals.
It may happen that in a hundred years we can totally lose another unique creature. In defense of the pangolins, the Google decided to create a mini-game featuring them, placing it on the Google Doodle on Valentine’s Day.
YouTube
No Description
Make a big step to better future of our Planet – help saving the pangolins!
