Aardvark

Key Stage 1

Meaning

File:Aardvark1.png

A picture of an aardvark.

An aardvark is a medium-sized animal with 4 legs and a long pig-like snout.

About Aardvarks

The nose and the mouth of an aardvark are at the end of its snout.

The aardvark is nocturnal, which means it will only come out at night.

Examples

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This is a picture of an aardvark.	This is a picture of an aardvark.

Key Stage 2

Meaning

An aardvark is a medium-sized, burrowing mammal with 4 legs and a long pig-like snout.

About Aardvarks

As a mammal aardvarks:

• Have a backbone.
• Feed their babies with milk.

Aardvarks live in Africa, and are found in bushland, woodland, grassland and savanna habitat.

The aardvark is nocturnal, which means it will only come out at night.

Aardvarks dig and live in burrows.

A young aardvark is called a cub.

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An aardvark's skeleton showing its backbone.

Lifecyle of an Aardvark

Foetus	Young	Adult
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An aardvark starts its life inside the mother getting its food through the umbilical cord.	When an aardvark has been born it cannot eat so it gets milk from its mother to survive. This is a young aardvark cub.	An adult aardvark is mature and can have it's own offspring.

Adaptations of Aardvarks

Adaptation	Purpose
A pig-like snout	To help the aardvark sniff out its food: ants and termites.
Sharp claws	To dig up ants and termites for food, and so it can dig burrows to live and sleep in.
Powerful legs	To help with digging up food and burrowing.
Long, sticky tongue	To help capture insects.

Key Stage 3

Meaning

An aardvark is a medium-sized, burrowing mammal with 4 legs and a long pig-like snout.

About Aardvarks

As a mammal aardvarks:

• Are vertebrates
• Feed their offspring with milk.
• Give birth to live young.
• Keep a constant internal temperature.

Adaptations of Aardvarks

Adaptation	Purpose
A pig-like snout	To help the aardvark sniff out its food: ants and termites.
Sharp claws and powerful legs	To dig up ants and termites for food, and so it can dig burrows to live and sleep in.
Thick nostril hair	To help filter through matter and search for food as it digs.
Muscular area in stomach	To break down food, rendering chewing unnecessary, as an Aardvark has only a few teeth and no enamel.
Long, sticky tongue	To help capture insects.

Key Stage 4

Meaning

An aardvark is a medium-sized, burrowing animal with 4 legs and a long pig-like snout, in the class; mammal.

About Aardvarks

As a mammal aardvarks:

• Are vertebrates
• Feed their offspring with milk.
• Are viviparous.
• Are homeotherms.

Adaptations of Aardvarks

Adaptation	Purpose
A pig-like snout	To help the aardvark sniff out its food: ants and termites.
Sharp claws and powerful legs	To dig up ants and termites for food, and so it can dig burrows to live and sleep in.
Thick nostril hair	To help filter through matter and search for food as it digs.
Muscular pyloric area in stomach	To break down food, rendering chewing unnecessary, as an Aardvark has only a few teeth and no enamel.
Long, sticky tongue	To help capture insects.