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Pholidota

File:Eupholidota.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons

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Pholidota

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Also known as pangolins, scaly anteaters, Lepidota, Manides, Maniformes, Manitheria, Neomanida, Nomarthra

Pangolins, also called scaly anteaters, are mammals of the order Pholidota (). The one extant family, the Manidae, has three genera: Manis, Phataginus, and Smutsia. Manis comprises five species found in Asia, while Phataginus and Smutsia include two species each, all found in sub-Saharan Africa. These species range in size from . Several extinct pangolin species are also known. In September 2023, a ninth species was reported, although it is only known from confiscated scales and has never been observed in the wild.

OverviewAI-generated

Pholidota is a taxon that has been described in sources including the Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary, Gujin Tushu Jicheng, and the 11th edition of Encyclopædia Britannica. It is distinct from the taxon Manis. The name Pholidota is associated with the order of mammals, whose parent taxa include Pholidotamorpha, Placentalia, mammal, and Laurasiatheria. This group is governed by the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. Common names for this taxon include Schuppentiere, Tannenzapfentiere, skjelldyr, and luskavci.

The name Pholidota also refers to a genus within the family Orchidaceae. Records for this plant genus are held by institutions such as CM, CAS, AMES, and GH. Specimens have been documented in the United States, China, and Malaysia. The taxon is not considered extinct.

Synthesized by Vinony from 28 facts across 6 sources: Wikidata, PubMed, iNaturalist, Plants of the World, iDigBio, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Species

species

FamilyOrchidaceae
Observations336

via · Kew POWO

Museum specimens

Specimen records
228
With media
179
Family
Orchidaceae
Collections
CM, CAS, AMES, GH
Recorded in
United States, China, Malaysia
iDigBio →

Research

648 papers

via PubMed

~24 min read

Encyclopedic overview

21 sections
Contents
  • Etymology
  • Description
  • Behaviour
  • Diet
  • Reproduction
  • Classification and phylogeny
  • Taxonomy
  • Summary of extant species
  • Phylogeny
  • Among placentals
  • Among Manidae
  • Threats
  • Virology
  • COVID-19 infection
  • ''Pestivirus'' and ''Coltivirus''
  • Folk medicine
  • Conservation
  • Taiwan
  • See also
  • References
  • External links

Pangolins, also called scaly anteaters, are mammals of the order Pholidota (). The one extant family, the Manidae, has three genera: Manis, Phataginus, and Smutsia. Manis comprises five species found in Asia, while Phataginus and Smutsia include two species each, all found in sub-Saharan Africa. These species range in size from . Several extinct pangolin species are also known. In September 2023, a ninth species was reported, although it is only known from confiscated scales and has never been observed in the wild.

Pangolins have large, protective keratin scales, covering their skin. Depending on the species, they live in hollow trees or burrows. Pangolins are nocturnal, and their diet consists of mainly ants and termites, which they capture using their long tongues. They tend to be solitary animals, meeting only to mate and produce a litter of one to three offspring, which they raise for about two years.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Pholidota” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

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