Both names come from Afrikaans, but the animals are not in any way related. The aardwolf is related to the hyena. It’s the hyenas friendly cousin. It mostly eats termites and it’s not dangerous. The aardvark lmhas a pig like nose and it burrows like a pig, so “vark” means pig in Afrikaans. The aardvark has no other relation to a pig besides the name.
The aardvark also mainly eats termites. Both species are nocturnal and rest in dens and burrows during the day. So similar behaviours and ecological niches so very fair to give them similar names.
The hyena family is also closer related to felines than canids. Fun fact there.
I am assuming it is not in fact actually closely related to a wolf/dog?
Also, this has got me very curious what just a “vark” looks like given the suggested naming scheme going on here.
Both names come from Afrikaans, but the animals are not in any way related. The aardwolf is related to the hyena. It’s the hyenas friendly cousin. It mostly eats termites and it’s not dangerous. The aardvark lmhas a pig like nose and it burrows like a pig, so “vark” means pig in Afrikaans. The aardvark has no other relation to a pig besides the name.
The aardvark also mainly eats termites. Both species are nocturnal and rest in dens and burrows during the day. So similar behaviours and ecological niches so very fair to give them similar names.
The hyena family is also closer related to felines than canids. Fun fact there.
ah, so “vark” is much like “dog” in english when it is used in animal names like “prairie dog”!
thanks for explaining!
I was gonna say “pig-wolf” sounds kind of goofy but it is actually pretty precise in behavioral desciption then isn’t it?
Should be noted that “aard” means “ground/earth”
Interesting, doesn’t ard also mean “ground/earth” in Arabic? Maybe one of those words that made into the indo-german languages by the Arabic conquest?
…by contrast to airwolf…
Thank you