Pangolin Picture Gallery: Get to Know This Rare Animal

Pangolin is the collective name for the genus Manis in the family Manidae, comprising 8 species in total. It is a ground-dwelling mammal with an elongated body, scales covering its entire body, short and thick limbs, and a flat, long tail with a slightly raised back. Pangolins mostly live in subtropical deciduous forests. During the day they often hide in burrows and plug the entrance with soil. At night they mostly come out to forage, resting by day and emerging at night, and when encountering enemies they curl up into a ball. Pangolins are rare in the wild, and in China, private hunting and consumption are prohibited.

The pangolin has an elongated body, scales covering its entire body, short and thick limbs, and a flat, long tail with a slightly raised back. Body weight and length vary greatly among different individuals. The head is conical, the eyes are small, and the snout is pointed. The tongue is long, and it has no teeth. The ears are underdeveloped. The feet have 5 toes with strong claws; the claws on the front feet are long, especially the middle third claw, which is particularly long, while the claws on the hind feet are shorter and smaller. The scales covering the body are arranged like roof tiles. They extend from the top of the forehead to the back, the outer sides of the limbs, and the dorsal and ventral surfaces of the tail. The scales are arranged in longitudinal rows from the center of the back ridge toward both sides. The scales are dark brown. There are three shapes of scales: dorsal scales are broad and diamond-shaped, with longitudinal grooves at the base and smooth edges. The number of longitudinal grooves varies and depends on the size of the scale. The scales on the ventral sides, the inner side of the forelimbs near the abdomen, and the hind limbs are shield-shaped, with a keel-like projection in the center and longitudinal grooves at the base. The scales on the sides of the tail are folded. Stiff hairs are mixed among the scales. Long, sparse white and brownish-yellow stiff hairs grow on both cheeks, around the eyes, ears, neck and abdomen, the outer sides of the limbs, and the base of the tail. There is very little downy hair. In adults, the hair at the base of two adjacent scales merges and appears bundle-like. Females have 1 pair of nipples.

The pangolin is a specialized species with basically degenerated vision, and especially keen olfaction. The pangolin's liver is not large, its liver detoxification function is weak, and its immune system is weak. It has a single-chambered stomach, the stomach is lined with a keratinized membrane, and the mucosa of the glandular part of the stomach is densely covered with many S-shaped folds; it uses the small sand and stones swallowed into the stomach while feeding to grind food. The surface of the pangolin's intestinal tract is smooth, and the small intestine is long.