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Today on Animal Fact Files we’re talking about pangolins. Up until 2020 many people didn’t even know pangolins existed. We want to take a moment to describe these unique and endangered animals without the context of why they’ve recently been making headlines.

One look at a pangolin shows these are some strange mammals. Known also as “walking pinecones” and “scaly anteaters” pangolins are the only known living scaled mammals. Their armor does superficially have some similarities to armadillos, and like some armadillo species pangolins curl up for defense, but these two mammal groups are unrelated. We say ‘groups’ because there are multiple pangolin species.

There are four pangolin species living in Asia and four in Africa. These animals are arboreal creatures, meaning they live in trees, though they may also dig burrows in the ground for sleeping. Their long, prehensile tails act like a fifth, grasping limb and aid in tree climbing. Pangolins also have long, sharp nails that are helpful in digging up food.

While pangolins are more closely related to cats than anteaters, the name “scaly anteater” isn’t a misnomer. These scaly mammals love to dine both on ants and termites. Pangolins use their sharp front claws to dig into nests of their prey. While eating, a pangolin can close its eyes, nose, and ears to avoid bites, and it will use its sticky tongue to lap up thousands of insects.

Pangolin tongues are insanely long. While our tongues are pretty much confined to our mouths, a pangolin’s tongue is anchored near the bottom of its rib cage. At full extension, a pangolin’s tongue can reach more than two feet (61 centimeters) in length - that’s longer than Chester’s entire body. Of course, this is only in the larger pangolins as these animals can range from about the size of a housecat up to a large dog.

Pangolins are generally found living in places with dense trees like swamps and forests. They are primarily nocturnal animals and live alone, though a mother will travel with her current offspring. Females can find available males by tracking scents from urine and feces. Male pangolins may even fight one another over females by using their scaled tails like clubs. After mating, these animals part ways. The female will gestate for two to four and a half months and give birth to one to three babies depending on the species. The babies are born with soft scales which harden after birth. The young pangolins may stick with their mother until they reach reproductive maturity at two years of age.

While pangolins do come with their own built in armor, they may fall victim to predators including leopards, lions, pythons, owls, eagles, chimpanzees, and more. They’re also the most trafficked mammals in the world. In some cultures, pangolin scales are believed to have medicinal properties and their meat is considered a delicacy. This has led to endangerment of all pangolin species, with some listed as critically endangered as of this recording. If they can keep away from predators, however, these animals may live to be twenty years old.

All pangolin species lack teeth. When you have a super tongue, do you really need teeth? Instead, these animals will swallow small stones to aid in digestion of their insect diets. Some pangolins walk on all four legs, while others walk only on their rear legs giving them quite an ancient appearance. They also give off a strong odor from their anal glands. It’s believed this helps pangolins mark territory boundaries, but the scent can be so strong it gives away a pangolin’s presence in the area!

For more facts on pangolins check out the links in the description. Give a thumbs up if you learned something new today, and thank you for watching Animal Fact Files.