Aardvark
The Aardvark is a mammal of order Tubulidentata, genus Orycteropus.
The name comes from Dutch for "earth pig". Aardvarks are native to Africa.
Several species have been named. Among them is the typical form, O. capensis, or Cape ant-bear from South Africa, and the northern aardvark (O. aethiopicus) of northeastern Africa, extending into Egypt.
In form these animals are somewhat pig-like; the body is stout, with arched back; the limbs are short and stout, armed with strong, blunt claws; the ears disproportionately long; and the tail very thick at the base and tapering gradually. The greatly elongated head is set on a short thick neck, and at the extremity of the snout is a disk in which the nostrils open. The mouth is small and tubular, furnished with a long extensile tongue. The measurements of a female taken in the flesh, were head and body 4 feet (about 120 cm), tail 17 1/2 inches (about 45 cm); but a large individual measured 6 feet 8 inches (about 200 cm) over all. In colour the Cape aardvark is pale sandy or yellow, the hair being scanty and allowing the skin to show; the northern aardvark has a still thinner coat, and is further distinguished by the shorter tail and longer head and ears.
Aardvarks are nocturnal animals. Although named for eating ants, they actually eat termites. They burrow into termite mounds using their strong claws, and the insects are collected on their long tongue. The aardvark should not be confused with the anteater.
Text originally from a 1911 Encyclopedia that is now in the public domain, and whose trademark owners do not want us to name it.
The text here has been updated by Wikipedians, perhaps significantly.
Aardvark is one of the Inherently funny words:
British comedians John Cleese and Graham Chapman wrote a Bookshop Skit in which a customer, initially Marty Feldman, seeks out a book called "Ethel the Aardvark goes Quantity Surveying". This classic skit was subsequently performed on stage by Monty Python cast members.
Furthermore, "Aardvark" is the word which misses on the first page of the "first english dictionary" in one epsisode of the british TV series The black adder by Rowan Atkinson . However, an Aardvark is described there as: Medium-sized insectivore with protruding nasal implement