Themes > Science > Class Mammalia > Mammals > Order Pholidota

Order Pholidota

This small order consists of some very unusual animals known as the pangolins. Pangolins live throughout southeast Asia and most of Africa. They are terrestrial or arboreal in nature. They are covered in a scaly epidermal armour, giving them the appearance of pine cones. Pangolins have extremely long tongues that are used to capture ants and termites, their main food. They have strong, clawed limbs to tear apart termite nests. Pangolins lack teeth, which is a feature also found in edentates, and for several years were placed in the order Edentata. However, pangolins are lacking several skeletal structures unique to the edentates, and therefore were placed in their own order. There are 7 species, 3 in Asia and 4 in Africa, placed in 1 family:

..Manidae (pangolins) 7 spp

Information provided by: http://www.angelfire.com