Editing Aardvark (section)

==Name and taxonomy==

=== Name ===
The aardvark is sometimes colloquially called the "African ant bear",<ref name="Colliers">{{harvnb|Goodwin|1997|pp=2–3}}</ref> "anteater" (not to be confused with the [[anteater|South American anteaters]]), or the "Cape anteater"<ref name=Colliers/> after the [[Cape of Good Hope]].

The name "aardvark" is [[Afrikaans]] ({{IPA|af|ˈɑːrtfark|pron}}) and comes from earlier Afrikaans {{Lang|af|erdvark}}.<ref name=Colliers/> It means "earth [[pig]]" or "ground pig" ({{lang|af|aarde}}: {{gloss|earth}}, {{lang|af|vark}}: {{gloss|pig, young pig}}), because of its burrowing habits.<ref>{{harvnb|Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary|2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite OED|term=aardvark|date=March 2018|id=22|access-date=24 May 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite dictionary |url=https://www.dsae.co.za/entry/aardvark/e00015 |title=aardvark |encyclopedia=Dictionary of South African English |publisher=Dictionary Unit for South African English |year=2018 |access-date=25 February 2019}}</ref>

The name ''Orycteropus'' means "burrowing foot", and the name ''afer'' refers to Africa.<ref name=sho/> The name of the aardvark's order, ''Tubulidentata'', comes from the tubule-style teeth.<ref name=sho1>{{harvnb|Shoshani|2002|p=619}}</ref>

=== Taxonomy ===
[[File:Aardvark skull.JPG|thumb|Skull of an aardvark]]
The aardvark is not closely related to the pig; rather, it is the [[Monotypic taxon|sole extant representative]] of the obscure mammalian [[order (biology)|order]] [[Tubulidentata]],<ref name=sho>{{harvnb|Shoshani|2002|p=618}}</ref> in which it is usually considered to form one variable species of the genus ''[[Orycteropus]]'', the sole surviving genus in the family [[Orycteropodidae]]. The aardvark is not closely related to the [[South America]]n [[anteater]], despite sharing some characteristics and a superficial resemblance.<ref name=awf/> The similarities are the outcome of [[convergent evolution]].<ref name=UR2/> The closest living relatives of the aardvark are the [[elephant shrew]]s, [[Tenrecidae]], and [[golden mole]]s.<ref>{{harvnb|Asher|Bennett|Lehmann|2009|p=854}}</ref> Along with [[sirenian]]s, [[hyrax]]es, [[elephant]]s,<ref>{{harvnb|Rodriguez|2013|p=6}}</ref> and their extinct relatives, these animals form the superorder [[Afrotheria]].<ref name=UR>{{harvnb|Rahm|1990|pp=450–451}}</ref> Studies of the brain have shown the similarities with [[Condylarthra]].<ref name=UR2/>

=== Evolutionary history ===
Based on his study of fossils, [[Bryan Patterson]] has concluded that early relatives of the aardvark appeared in [[Africa]] around the end of the [[Paleocene]].<ref name=UR2/><ref name=sho2>{{harvnb|Shoshani|2002|p=620}}</ref> The [[ptolemaiida]]ns, a mysterious clade of mammals with uncertain affinities, may actually be stem-aardvarks, either as a sister clade to Tubulidentata or as a grade leading to true tubulidentates.<ref name="Cote et al 2007">{{cite journal |vauthors=Cote S, Werdelin L, Seiffert ER, Barry JC |title=Additional material of the enigmatic Early Miocene mammal ''Kelba'' and its relationship to the order Ptolemaiida |journal=Proc Natl Acad Sci USA |volume=104 |issue=13 |pages=5510–5 |date=March 2007 |pmid=17372202 |pmc=1838468 |doi=10.1073/pnas.0700441104 |bibcode = 2007PNAS..104.5510C |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name=Seifert2007>{{cite journal|last=Seiffert|first=Erik R|title=A new estimate of afrotherian phylogeny based on simultaneous analysis of genomic, morphological, and fossil evidence|journal=BMC Evolutionary Biology|year=2007|volume=7|issue=1|pages=224|doi=10.1186/1471-2148-7-224 |doi-access=free|url= |pmid=17999766|pmc=2248600|bibcode=2007BMCEE...7..224S }}</ref>

The first unambiguous tubulidentate was probably ''[[Myorycteropus africanus]]'' from [[Kenya]]n [[Miocene]] deposits.<ref name=UR2/> The earliest example from the genus ''Orycteropus'' was ''[[Amphiorycteropus|Orycteropus mauritanicus]]'', found in [[Algeria]] in deposits from the middle Miocene, with an equally old version found in Kenya.<ref name=UR2/> Fossils from the aardvark have been dated to 5 million years, and have been located throughout [[Europe]] and the [[Near East]].<ref name=UR2/>

The mysterious Pleistocene ''[[Plesiorycteropus]]'' from [[Madagascar]] was originally thought to be a tubulidentate that was descended from ancestors that entered the island during the [[Eocene]]. However, a number of subtle anatomical differences coupled with recent molecular evidence now lead researchers to believe that ''Plesiorycteropus'' is a relative of golden moles and [[tenrec]]s that achieved an aardvark-like appearance and ecological niche through convergent evolution.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0059614 |title=A Molecular Phylogeny of Plesiorycteropus Reassigns the Extinct Mammalian Order 'Bibymalagasia'|year=2013|last1=Buckley|first1=Michael|journal=PLOS ONE|volume=8|issue=3|pages=e59614|pmid=23555726|pmc=3608660|bibcode=2013PLoSO...859614B|doi-access=free}}</ref>

===Subspecies===
The aardvark has seventeen poorly defined subspecies listed:<ref name="MSW3"/>

* ''[[Orycteropus afer afer]]'' (Southern aardvark)
* ''O. a. adametzi'' <small> Grote, 1921</small> (Western aardvark)
* ''O. a. aethiopicus'' <small> [[Carl Jakob Sundevall|Sundevall]], 1843</small>
* ''O. a. angolensis'' <small> Zukowsky & [[Theodor Haltenorth|Haltenorth]], 1957</small>
* ''O. a. erikssoni'' <small> [[Einar Lönnberg|Lönnberg]], 1906</small>
* ''O. a. faradjius'' <small> Hatt, 1932</small>
* ''O. a. haussanus'' <small> [[Paul Matschie|Matschie]], 1900</small>
* ''O. a. kordofanicus'' <small> [[Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild|Rothschild]], 1927</small>
* ''O. a. lademanni'' <small> Grote, 1911</small>
* ''O. a. leptodon'' <small> Hirst, 1906</small>
* ''O. a. matschiei'' <small> Grote, 1921</small>
* ''O. a. observandus'' <small>Grote, 1921</small>
* ''O. a. ruvanensis'' <small>Grote, 1921</small>
* ''O. a. senegalensis'' <small>[[René Primevère Lesson|Lesson]], 1840</small>
* ''O. a. somalicus'' <small>[[Richard Lydekker|Lydekker]], 1908</small>
* ''O. a. wardi'' <small>Lydekker, 1908</small>
* ''O. a. wertheri'' <small> Matschie, 1898</small> (Eastern aardvark)

The [[1911 Encyclopædia Britannica]] also mentions ''O.&nbsp;a. capensis'' or Cape ant-bear from South Africa.<ref>{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Aard-vark|volume=1|page=2}}</ref>