Have you ever met someone or maybe read about an animal and thought, “What a funny name! I wonder what it means?” Well, I have quite often. I wonder who came up with a name, and why name it that. Some names have origins in the language of the region they come from. Some names were randomly made up by scientists. Aardvark is one of those names that catches your attention. It is the first animal in the dictionary with its double Aa beginning, but the name came from the South African language and it means earth pig. Their shape and snout may make them look like a pig or an anteater but this animal is not related to either of them. It is related to the elephant. What? Holy Aardvark, that's crazy!

The aardvark is strangely unusual and really is one of a kind. It lives from central Africa to the southern tip of the continent. They have adapted to live in different habitats and climate conditions. They can be found in forests, savannahs,  and grasslands, as well as scrub land. Their ability to adapt so well has made them one of the animals on the least endangered list.

Aardvarks are nocturnal. They very rarely come out during the day and spend all night eating. During the day they sleep in burrows they have dug. Sometimes they dig a temporary shelter they use to escape predators, but most often live in large underground dens. They are made for digging with long nails on their hoof-like feet. An aardvark is one of the most advanced diggers in the mammal family and can dig a hole three feet deep in only three minutes. Some of their burrows are 19 feet deep. This is where naps are taken, babies are born and most of their life takes place. When an aardvark moves to a new burrow, other animals like hyenas, wild African dogs and porcupines take the old one over.

Aardvarks have limited diets. They are primarily insectivores, and are definitely built to find the food they like to eat. The main foods in their diet are termites and ants. Their ability to dig and their long tongues make getting to the insects very easy. Their sticky tongues can grow up to a foot long and help them eat hundreds of ants or termites in one swoop. One aardvark can eat 50,000 insects in one night. They make great exterminators. This small animal can’t see very well but its sense of smell leads it on a search for food. The search can be as much as ten miles in one night.