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“Pangolins are the only mammals covered in scales.”
Pangolins are nocturnal mammals covered in keratin scales. They eat ants and termites with long sticky tongues and roll into balls when threatened. All eight species are heavily poached.
Manis javanicaPholidotaManidae
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Pangolins are mammals covered head to tail in overlapping scales. Eight species exist today—four in Asia and four in Africa—and all are threatened by poaching. They eat almost nothing but ants and termites, and they hunt at night using smell rather than sight.
This page focuses on the Sunda pangolin (Manis javanica), one of the Asian species, but many traits described here apply across the group. Pangolins are often called scaly anteaters, though they are not closely related to the giant anteater of South America.
Because pangolins are shy and active after dark, field biologists still lack basic population data for most species. What is clear is that illegal trade has removed them from many forests and grasslands where they once lived.
Pangolins belong to the order Pholidota and the family Manidae. They are the only mammals with large keratin scales covering the body. Genetic studies place pangolins near the carnivoran lineage, but they form their own distinct order with no close living relatives.
Asian species belong to the genus Manis. The Sunda pangolin (M. javanica) ranges through mainland Southeast Asia and the Greater Sunda Islands. Other Asian species include the Chinese pangolin (M. pentadactyla), Indian pangolin (M. crassicaudata), and Philippine pangolin (M. culionensis). Africa has four species in the genera Phataginus and Smutsia.
Fossil pangolins appear in Eurasian deposits dating back tens of millions of years. Their specialized anatomy—scaled armor, toothless jaws, and ant-eating tongue—developed early and changed little compared with many mammal groups.
A typical adult Sunda pangolin weighs 4 to 7 pounds and measures about 2 to 3 feet including the tail. The body is slender, with small legs and a long tail used for balance and, in mothers, for carrying pups.
Scales cover the back, tail, and outer limbs. They are made of keratin, the same protein in human fingernails. Soft scales at birth harden within days. When threatened, a pangolin rolls into a ball so only the armored surface is exposed.
Pangolins have no teeth. Instead, they use powerful front claws to tear open ant and termite nests. A tongue can extend 16 inches or more—longer than the animal's body—and is coated with sticky saliva. They can seal their nostrils and ears while digging to keep insects out.
The stomach is thick-walled and often contains swallowed stones that help grind prey, similar to a bird's gizzard.
Asian pangolins use forest and grassland habitats where ant and termite colonies are common. The Sunda pangolin occurs in lowland and hill forests from Myanmar and Thailand through Malaysia, Indonesia, and parts of the Philippines.
African pangolins occupy a wider range of biomes, from rainforest to dry savanna. All species need access to soil or rotting wood where social insects nest.
Pangolins rest by day in burrows, tree hollows, or thick vegetation. They emerge at dusk to forage, walking on their hind legs with front claws held off the ground.
Pangolins are specialized insect eaters. A single individual may consume tens of thousands of ants or termites in one night, along with some beetle larvae and bee brood.
They locate nests by smell, then dig with their claws. The tongue flicks rapidly into tunnels and scoops insects into the mouth. Because they cannot chew, prey is swallowed whole and processed in the muscular stomach.
Pangolins play a useful role in ecosystems by regulating ant and termite numbers. One animal can clear several nests in a night, reducing pest pressure on vegetation.
Pangolins are mostly solitary. Adults overlap in range but interact mainly during breeding. Scent marks on rocks, trees, and burrow entrances signal presence to other individuals.
When disturbed, a pangolin curls into a ball. Some species also lash with the scaled tail. These defenses work against many predators but fail against humans who simply pick up the rolled animal.
Mothers are attentive. A pup rides on the base of the mother's tail for the first few months, and the mother moves it between safe resting sites.
After a gestation of about four to five months, females give birth to one pup, sometimes two. Pups weigh only a few ounces and are born with soft, pale scales.
They nurse for three to four months and begin accompanying the mother on foraging trips. Sexual maturity arrives at about two years in smaller species. Pangolins reproduce slowly—usually one pup per year at most—which makes population recovery difficult after heavy poaching.
Exact lifespan in the wild is poorly documented. Captive individuals have lived up to 20 years.
(Population and conservation trend data sourced from the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species)
The Sunda pangolin and most other Asian species are Critically Endangered. African species range from Vulnerable to Endangered. All eight are listed on CITES Appendix I, which bans international commercial trade.
Poaching for meat and scales is the primary threat. Scales are used in traditional medicine in some markets despite having no proven clinical value—they are keratin, like human hair. Habitat loss from logging and farmland expansion adds pressure.
Enforcement, public awareness, and rehabilitation centers in countries such as Vietnam and Nigeria help rescued individuals, but wild populations continue to fall in many regions. Reducing demand and strengthening anti-trafficking laws remain the main conservation priorities.
Pangolins are the only mammals covered in scales.
A pangolin tongue can extend longer than its body.
Pangolins have no teeth and swallow small stones to grind food.
Eight species exist: four in Asia and four in Africa.
Pangolins can close their nostrils while digging into insect nests.
They are considered the most trafficked mammals in the world.
Select a question to reveal the answer.
A pangolin is a scaly mammal that eats ants and termites. It walks on its hind legs and uses strong front claws to open insect nests.
Pangolins feed almost entirely on ants and termites. They lap up insects with a long sticky tongue and can eat tens of thousands in one night.
Asian pangolins range from India and southern China through Southeast Asia. African pangolins live in forests and savannas south of the Sahara.
Scales are made of keratin, the same protein in human hair and fingernails. They overlap like armor and regrow if damaged.
Illegal hunting for meat and scales is the main threat. Habitat loss and slow reproduction make recovery difficult. All species are protected under CITES Appendix I.
When threatened, a pangolin rolls into a tight ball so only its hard scales are exposed. It may also lash out with its sharp tail scales.
No. Pangolins are mammals. They have fur between their scales, give birth to live young, and nurse pups with milk.
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