aardwolf

plural aardwolves · plural rare aardwolfs · alternative aard-wolf

1. A nocturnal, insectivorous mammal (Proteles cristatus), having yellowish fur with vertical black stripes, and a long mane down the midline of the neck and back; it is related to and resembles the hyena, and is native to eastern and southern Africa.First known use early 19th c.

   Aardwolfs are widespread, though seldom seen. They inhabit open country, from arid scrub to moister, high-altitude grasslands.

   2003, Mike Unwin, “Mammals”, in South African Wildlife: A Visitor’s Guide, Chalfont St. Peter, Buckinghamshire: Bradt Travel Guides; Guilford, Conn.: The Globe Pequot Press, →ISBN, page 51

   5 more examples

   [page 79] The Committee of Science and Correspondence, having taken into consideration the request of the Council, that they should prepare a Report upon the Animals most desirable to be introduced into this country for the purposes of utility or exhibition, beg leave to submit a List of such Animals arranged under the heads of the respective countries of which they are natives. […] [page 86] Cape of Good Hope. […] Aard Wolf (Proteles).

   [1831 March 22 (date delivered), “Report of the Committee of Science and Correspondence to the Council”, in Proceedings of the Committee of Science and Correspondence of the Zoological Society of London, part I (1830–1831), London: […] [F]or the [Zoological] Society [of London], by Richard Taylor, […], →ISSN, →OCLC, pages 79 and 86

   The size of the aard-wolf is about that of a full-grown fox, which it further resembles in its pointed muzzle; but it stands higher upon its legs, its ears are considerably larger and more naked, and its tail shorter and not so bushy. […] In its habits and manners the aard-wolf resembles the fox: like that animal it is nocturnal, and constructs a subterraneous burrow, at the bottom of which it lies concealed during the day-time and only ventures abroad on the approach of night to search for food and satisfy the other calls of nature.

   1833, “AARD-WOLF”, in [George Long], editor, The Penny Cyclopædia of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, volumes I (A–Andes), London: Charles Knight and Co., […], →OCLC, pages 4–5

   There is a very pretty little hyæna to be found up in these localities, called by the natives "aard-wolf," and by the colonists "strand wolf;" it is about the size of a jackal, possesses a bright fawn-coloured coat, handsomely marked with black lines.

   [1878], Parker Gillmore, “An Objectionable Host—Travelling Companions”, in The Great Thirst Land: A Ride through Natal, Orange Free State, Transvaal, and Kalahari Desert, London; Paris: Cassell, Petter, Galpin & Co. […], →OCLC, page 205

   I have had the opportunity, however, of examining an example of the Aard Wolf (Proteles cristatus), an animal that is now seldom seen in menageries. So great is the uniformity of pattern amongst the terrestrial carnivores that Proteles may serve as an example of all.

   1916 February 22 (date delivered), P[eter] Chalmers Mitchell, “Further Observations on the Intestinal Tract of Mammals”, in Proceedings of the General Meetings for Scientific Business of the Zoological Society of London, number I, London: […] [F]or the [Zoological] Society [of London], […] [by] Messrs. Longmans, Green, and Co., […], published March 1916, →OCLC, page 235

   Aardwolves scoop out small hollows in the sides of white-ant hills, but do not tear down the mounds in the same manner as Aardvarks. […] Newspaper controversy as to whether or not the Aardwolf habitually attacks sheep and lambs is something of a "hardy annual" in South Africa. […] [I]t would be an error of judgment to advocate the destruction of all Aardwolves in the face of existing evidence of their normally insectivorous diet.

   1942 September, G[uy] C[hester] Shortridge, “Field Notes on the First and Second Expeditions of the Cape Museums’ Mammal Survey of the Cape Province; and Descriptions of Some New Subgenera and Subspecies”, in Annals of the South African Museum, volume XXXVI, part I, Edinburgh: […] [F]or the trustees of the South African Museum by Neill and Co., […], →ISSN, →OCLC, page 44

   Synonyms: civet hyena, earthwolf, maanhaar, maanhaar-jackal, termite-eating hyena