Orycteropus afer (Pallas 1766)

Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn, 2005, Order Tubulidentata, Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3 rd Edition), Volume 1, Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, pp. 86-86 : 86

Orycteropus afer (Pallas 1766)

[Myrmecophaga] afra Pallas 1766 , Misc. Zool.: 64.

Type Locality: South Africa, Western Cape Prov., Cape of Good Hope.

Vernacular Names: Aardvark.

Subspecies: :

Subspecies Orycteropus afer subsp. afer Pallas 1766

Subspecies Orycteropus afer subsp. adametzi Grote 1921

Subspecies Orycteropus afer subsp. aethiopicus Sundevall 1843

Subspecies Orycteropus afer subsp. angolensis Zukowsky and Haltenorth 1957

Subspecies Orycteropus afer subsp. erikssoni Lönnberg 1906

Subspecies Orycteropus afer subsp. faradjius Hatt 1932

Subspecies Orycteropus afer subsp. haussanus Matschie 1900

Subspecies Orycteropus afer subsp. kordofanicus Rothschild 1927

Subspecies Orycteropus afer subsp. lademanni Grote 1911

Subspecies Orycteropus afer subsp. leptodon Hirst 1906

Subspecies Orycteropus afer subsp. matschiei Grote 1921

Subspecies Orycteropus afer subsp. observandus Grote 1921

Subspecies Orycteropus afer subsp. ruvanensis Grote 1921

Subspecies Orycteropus afer subsp. senegalensis Lesson 1840

Subspecies Orycteropus afer subsp. somalicus Lydekker 1908

Subspecies Orycteropus afer subsp. wardi Lydekker 1908

Subspecies Orycteropus afer subsp. wertheri Matschie 1898

Distribution: Savannah zones of West Africa to E Sudan, Ethiopia and Eritrea; Kenya; Somalia; N and W Uganda to Tanzania; Rwanda; N, E, and C Dem. Rep. Congo; W Angola; Namibia; Botswana; Zimbabwe; Zambia; Mozambique; South Africa.

Conservation: IUCN – Least Concern.

Discussion: Reviewed by Melton (1976), Pocock (1924), and Shoshani et al. (1988, Mammalian Species, 300). Seventeen poorly defined subspecies are recognized ( Meester, 1972 b; Meester et al., 1986).