Aardvark
Orycteropus afer (Pallas, 1766)
The aardvark (Orycteropus afer), also called antbear or earth-hog, is a mammal in the order Tubulidentata and the family Orycteropodidae. It is a large, nocturnal, terrestrial animal with an adult body mass of 52.35 kg, and our sources report adults up to 56.18 kg.
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Quick facts about the aardvark
The aardvark is an invertivore, placed at the carnivore trophic level. Gestation lasts 222 days, females have 1 litter per year, sexual maturity comes at 2 years, and lifespan is 24 years, with values up to 29.8 years reported.
- Weight
- 52.4 kg – 56.2 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 24 years – 29.8 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Invertivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Gestation
- 183 days – 244 dayssrc for Gestation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 1 – 1.03src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 2 years – 2.07 yearssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1src for Litters or clutches a year
- Active
- At night (nocturnal)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Photos of the aardvark
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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Where does the aardvark live?
Not recorded
What is the aardvark?
The aardvark ( ; Orycteropus afer) is a medium-sized, burrowing, nocturnal mammal native to Africa. The aardvark is the only living member of the genus Orycteropus, the family Orycteropodidae and the order Tubulidentata.
The aardvark is an afrotherian, a clade that also includes elephants, manatees, and hyraxes.
It is found over much of the southern two-thirds of the African continent, avoiding areas that are mainly rocky. A nocturnal feeder, the aardvark subsists on ants and termites (myrmecophagy) by using its sharp claws and powerful legs to dig the insects out of their hills, and its long snout to sniff out food. It digs a burrow in which to live and rear its young. Despite its similar diet and body structure to the true anteater group of South America (Xenarthra), which includes armadillos and sloths, these behaviors are thought to exist as a result of convergent evolution.
From the Wikipedia article “Aardvark” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Aardvark&oldid=1384880602), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
What does the aardvark sound like?
Is the aardvark endangered?
The aardvark is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the aardvark classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderTubulidentata
- familyOrycteropodidae
- genusOrycteropus
- SpeciesOrycteropus afer (Pallas, 1766)
Synonyms Myrmecophaga afra, Myrmecophaga capensis
Other names and names in other languages (62)
- Ant bearEnglish
- AntbearEnglish
- AntbearEnglish
- Earth-hogEnglish
- ErdvarkAfrikaans
- ErdmannetjieAfrikaans
- دب النملArabic
- خنزير الأرضArabic
- اكل النمل الرأسArabic
- ErdfàggiBavarian
- ТрубказубBelarusian
- আর্ডভার্কBangla
- Porc formiguerCatalan
- HrabáčCzech
- hrabáč kapskýCzech
- ErdferkelGerman
- ΆαρντβαρκGreek
- ΟρυκτερόπουςGreek
- OrikteropoEsperanto
- Oso HormigueroSpanish
- Cerdo hormigueroSpanish
- TuhnikEstonian
- MaasikaFinnish
- termiittikaivajaFinnish
- OryctéropeFrench
- Le FourmillierFrench
- Oryctérope du CapFrench
- שנבובHebrew
- Afrički mravojedCroatian
- TermitojedCroatian
- FöldimalacHungarian
- OritteropoItalian
- ツチブタJapanese
- RikteropuLojban
- wombelakck
- whombelakck
- TubulidentataLigurian
- EerdverkeLimburgish
- VamzdžiadančiaiLithuanian
- OrikteropuMaltese
- JordsvinNorwegian Bokmål
- AardvarkenDutch
- AardevarkDutch
- Couochon d'tèrrenrm
- MrównikPolish
- mrównik afrykańskiPolish
- OrictéropoPortuguese
- JimboPortuguese
- Porco-formigueiroPortuguese
- TimbaPortuguese
- ТрубкозубRussian
- isambaneSwati
- MhangaSwahili
- อาร์ดวาร์กThai
- ArdvarkTurkish
- ThakaduTswana
- XikhwariTsonga
- Трубкозуб африканськийUkrainian
- IhodiXhosa
- 土豚Chinese
- ngezwaZulu
- SambaneZulu
Relatives of the aardvark
Other species in the same class Mammalia.
Lion
Panthera leo
Tiger
Panthera tigris
Wolf
Canis lupus
Leopard
Panthera pardus
Wild boar
Sus scrofa
Polar bear
Ursus maritimus
CompareAardvark vs LionAardvark vs TigerAardvark vs WolfAardvark vs Leopard
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is an aardvark?
The aardvark is a mammal in the order Tubulidentata and the family Orycteropodidae. It is a large, nocturnal, terrestrial animal.
How heavy is an aardvark?
An adult aardvark has a body mass of 52.35 kg, and our sources report adults up to 56.18 kg.
What does an aardvark eat?
The aardvark is an invertivore, placed at the carnivore trophic level.
Is the aardvark endangered?
No. The aardvark is listed as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.
How long does an aardvark live?
The aardvark has a lifespan of 24 years, and our sources report values up to 29.8 years.
How many young does an aardvark have?
An aardvark has 1 litter per year with 1.03 young per litter, after a gestation period of 222 days.
Who named the aardvark?
The aardvark, Orycteropus afer, was named by (Pallas, 1766).
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Aardvark (Orycteropus afer). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/aardvark
“Aardvark (Orycteropus afer).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/aardvark.
@misc{aardvark_2026,
title = {Aardvark (Orycteropus afer)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/aardvark},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}