Proteles cristatus1🐾

Photo: Dominik Käuferle · CC BY-SA 3.0

SpeciesCarnivoraHyaenidae
Carnivores

🐾Aardwolf

Proteles cristata (Sparrman, 1783)

The aardwolf is an insectivorous hyaenid species, native to East and Southern Africa. Its name means 'earth-wolf' in Afrikaans and Dutch. It is also called the maanhaarjakkals, termite-eating hyena and civet hyena, based on its habit of secreting substances from its anal gland, a characteristic shared with the African civet.

Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Videos
2
Photos
5
Measurements
13
vs you
≈ 1/8th of your weight
Conservation status
LCLeast concern

IUCN Red List assessment.

Key measurements
Body mass
8.12 kg
Body length
0.75 m
Shoulder height
not recorded
Top speed
not recorded
Bite force
not recorded
Maximum lifespan
25 years
All measurements ↓
Facts and figures

Everything we know about the Aardwolf

Typical adult figures. Where a value is an estimate rather than a measurement, it says so.

Body mass
8.12 kg
COMBINE
Other figures ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Figures vary

  • 10 kgAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: acceptable
Body length
0.75 m
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Brain mass
36 g
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Maximum lifespan
25 years
COMBINE
Other figures ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Figures vary

  • 20 yearsAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: acceptable
Generation length
8.3 years
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Age at maturity
1.7 years
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Gestation
88 days
COMBINE
Other figures ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Figures vary

  • 84 daysAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: acceptable
Litter size
about 3
COMBINE
Other figures ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Figures vary

  • 2.5AnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: acceptable
Trophic level
Carnivore
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Activity cycle
Nocturnal
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Home range
1.51 km²
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Population density
0.81 per km²
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Volume l
8.1 Laverage
Details ↓

Body mass at ~1.0 kg/L, the density of vertebrate tissue.

average = a mean across sexes or species in a group.

Not recorded for Aardwolf yet: shoulder height, top speed, bite force.

Where it sits

Family tree

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. ›phylumChordata
  3. ›classMammalia
  4. ›orderCarnivora
  5. ›familyHyaenidae
  6. ›genusProteles
  7. ›speciesProteles cristata
Full lineage
  1. classMammals · Mammalia
  2. orderCarnivorans · Carnivora
  3. familyHyaenidae
  4. genusProteles
All 14 branches ↓
  1. kingdomMetazoa
  2. phylumChordata
  3. subphylumCraniata
  4. subphylumVertebrata
  5. superclassGnathostomata
  6. superclassSarcopterygii
  7. superclassTetrapoda
  8. classMammals · Mammalia
  9. subclassTheria
  10. superorderLaurasiatheria
  11. orderCarnivorans · Carnivora
  12. suborderFeliformia
  13. familyHyaenidae
  14. genusProteles
More

More about the Aardwolf

Closest relative on this site
🐺 Spotted hyena — last shared an ancestor ≈ 4.1 million years ago.
What it eats
insects and other invertebrates100%
In other languages
Erdwolf (de), Proteles cristata (es), Proteles cristata (fr), Protel (pl), 땅늑대 (ko), cibethiéna (hu) … and 26 more languages

Animals caught on camera

Real footage of the animals on this site — hunting, fighting, and getting on with it.

See all 2 videos →
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