Is an Aardvark an Anteater? The Aardvark Family Explained

Where does the aardvark fit in the mammal family tree?

The aardvark (Orycteropus afer) is the last survivor of an ancient group. It is the only species in its genus, Orycteropus, the only one in its family, Orycteropodidae, and the only one in its order, Tubulidentata. The order’s name means “tube teeth” and refers to its unusual cheek teeth, which are made of many tiny tubes of dentine without any enamel.

Genetic studies since the late 1990s have placed the aardvark in a large group of mammals called Afrotheria, which evolved in Africa when it was an island continent. Afrotheria includes:

• Elephants, such as the African bush elephant
• Hyraxes, small rodent-like animals of rocks and trees
• Sea cows, the manatees and the dugong
• Tenrecs and golden moles
• Elephant shrews, also called sengis
• The aardvark

Within Afrotheria, the aardvark’s nearest relatives are the insect-eating tenrecs, golden moles and elephant shrews. So, surprisingly, an aardvark is more closely related to an elephant than to an anteater or a pig.

Where do true anteaters fit?

The four living anteater species, including the giant anteater, live in Central and South America. They belong to a different major group of mammals called Xenarthra, together with sloths and armadillos. Xenarthrans evolved in South America, and their ancestors split from the ancestors of afrotherians very early in the history of placental mammals.

That means the last common ancestor of an aardvark and an anteater lived many tens of millions of years ago, probably before either group had any special taste for ants.

Anteaters also differ from aardvarks inside. Like other xenarthrans, they have extra joints between the vertebrae of the lower back, the feature that gives Xenarthra its name, meaning “strange joints”. They also have a low body temperature and slow metabolism for mammals of their size. The anteater’s skull is a long, toothless tube, and the mouth opening is barely wider than a pencil.

Why do aardvarks and anteaters look so alike?

The likeness is a classic example of convergent evolution: unrelated animals evolving similar features because they live in similar ways. Eating ants and termites demands a particular toolkit:

Several unrelated groups of mammals have evolved this toolkit independently: aardvarks in Africa, anteaters in the Americas, pangolins in Africa and Asia, and echidnas in Australia and New Guinea. Even the aardwolf, a small member of the hyena family, has become a termite specialist.

Key differences between aardvarks and anteaters

Once you look closely, aardvarks and anteaters are easy to tell apart:

Aardvarks are powerful diggers that spend the day underground and dig deep into nests. Giant anteaters rip open mounds and feed for only a minute or so at each one, moving on before soldiers can gather.

What about pangolins and echidnas?

Pangolins are the other famous “scaly anteaters”. They live in Africa and Asia and are covered in overlapping scales made of keratin. Despite their looks, their closest living relatives are the carnivores, the group that includes cats, dogs and bears. Learn about one species in the Sunda pangolin profile.

Echidnas, sometimes called spiny anteaters, are even more distant. They are monotremes, egg-laying mammals related to the platypus. The short-beaked echidna eats ants and termites with a long, sticky tongue, just like an aardvark.

Fossil aardvarks

Aardvarks were once more widespread and varied. Fossil relatives in the genus Orycteropus and related genera are known from Africa, southern Europe and Asia, dating back at least to the Miocene, roughly 20 million years ago. Today only one species survives, in Africa.

An extinct animal from Madagascar, Plesiorycteropus, was long thought to be a close aardvark relative. Newer studies suggest it was instead related to tenrecs and golden moles, and only looked aardvark-like because of convergence, another twist in the aardvark story.