It looks like a miniature striped hyena, but it’s not. The aardwolf (the name means “earth-wolf” in Afrikaans) is so highly adapted to eating termites that its teeth, except for its canines, have dwindled to mere pegs incapable of chewing meat. Its fangs are still well-developed, and it uses them to defend its territory from other aardwolves.Aardwolves live entirely on two species of termites. One of these species goes dormant during the cooler winter, so they then switch to the other species for sustenance. This very restricted diet means that the species has a very retricted range — it can only live where these two species of termites do.An aardwolf doesn’t have powerful claws or forelegs like an anteater or aardvark, so it can’t dig out the termites. It has to stand beside or on top of the mound to lick up what it can. Read the rest of this entry »