Show AARDVARK EASILY outclasses MAN AS FAST DIGGER the aard aardvark varl whose name comes from the dutch and means earth pig Is one of the strangest of living mammals extraordinary in appear ance in structure and in habits says the chicago field museum news aardvarks are common through DU out t southeastern africa states dr wilfred H osgood curator of zoology at the museum they are bout about tl it e size of a large fat hog W weigh elgh up to pounds and have a like snout which accounts for the name given them by the early dutch colonists in south africa that they are so abundant over so wide a range of territory can grow to such large size as individuals on a diet of ants exclusively is eloquent evidence of the prevalence of ints in africa and the problem they present resent to settlers being nocturnal il in habits babits and alv ang ng in burrows aardvarks aard are rarely seen says doctor osgood they annot therefore be hunted like most animals but instead by the un usual method of seeking their bur rows and digging them out how ver this presents difficulties dIfficult les be ause an aardvark can dig faster than six men with shovels and thus escape farther into the earth the members of the white coats tion instead of digging d erectly after the aardvarks pushed the earth lown own behind them this interfered with further digging by the anima s ind the men then dug in front of hem and shot them through the around as their movement in the arth became visible the teeth of the aardvark have a peculiar lec Tillar tubular structure most losely resembling those of certain ashes this would seem to indicate a very ancient ancestry for them then animals which are probably the last remnant of an order of which all other species are now extinct avers doctor osgood |