Steppe pangolin

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Steppe pangolin
Steppe pangolin (Smutsia temminckii)

Steppe pangolin ( Smutsia temminckii )

Systematics
Superordinate : Laurasiatheria
Order : Pholidota
Family : Pangolins (Manidae)
Subfamily : Smutsiinae
Genre : Smutsia
Type : Steppe pangolin
Scientific name
Smutsia temminckii
( Smuts , 1832)

The steppe pangolin ( Smutsia temminckii , partly also Manis temminckii ) is a species of mammal from the family of pangolins (Manidae). It occurs in eastern and southern Africa, its range is the largest of all African pangolins. The animals live solitary and are ground dwellers who can move around on their four feet or just on their hind legs. They are strong nutrition specialists whose diet consists only of colonizing insects such as ants and termites . The body is strongly built, but unlike other pangolins living on the ground, the steppe pangolin is not a good digger. Therefore, to rest, he usually retreats into the den of other animals. The pangolin is heavily hunted, partly for meat production, but partly also for use in local medical customs. Electric fences, which are erected to protect private wildlife farms or grazing animals, have another major impact on populations . Due to the decline in the population, the steppe pangolin is considered endangered. It was first described in 1832.

features

Habitus

The steppe pangolin is a medium-sized, stocky and streamlined representative of the pangolins . It reaches a head-trunk length of around 30 to 67 cm, the tail is 37 to 59 cm, almost the same length as the rest of the body. The weight is 3 to 17 kg, rarely more than 20 kg. A study of a wild population in the north-west of Zimbabwe revealed a total length of 59 to 140 cm and a weight varying from 3.0 to 15.8 kg for a total of ten steppe pangolins. Similar studies on animals in the Transvaal resulted in total lengths of 60 to 129 cm and a weight of 2.4 to 13.2 kg, with adult animals measuring at least 89 cm and weighing 4.7 kg. The sexual dimorphism is relatively pronounced and males are almost twice as heavy as females. Like all pangolins, the steppe pangolin also has a characteristic scale armor that covers the top of the head, back and flanks, the outside of the limbs and the tail. The scales are massive and usually wider than long, increasing in size towards the back of the trunk. They have three tips pointing backwards, with the exception of the hind legs, where the tips point downwards, and a color that changes from dark brown to yellowish gray from the base to the tips. The scales are arranged on the body in 11 to 13 transverse rows. A row of scales running lengthways across the back breaks off about halfway down the tail and is replaced by a double row. There are 11 to 13 scales on the sides of the tail. In contrast to the tree-dwelling pangolins, the tip of the tail is completely scaled. The unprotected skin shows a brown color on the abdomen, it is covered with brown, very short hair. Other unscaled parts of the body are only sparsely hairy.

The head has a conical shape and merges seamlessly into the body, so that no visible neck is formed. The snout is thinner and shorter than that of the related giant pangolin ( Smutsia gigantea ). The nose usually has the same skin color as the rest of the body, but it can sometimes be darker. The eyes are small and show a dark iris , they are surrounded by thick eyelids. The ear opening is large and often covered with soft hair; thickened skin bulges are not formed. Front and rear legs have a massive build and are very short, with the front only being around 60% of the length of the rear, which may be related to the frequent straightening up on the hind legs and the less pronounced digging way of life. All limbs each end in five toes with strong claws. The claws of the three middle toes of the front feet reach 5 to 6 cm in length, those of the inner and outer toes are only half as long at 3 cm. Overall, the claws on the hind feet are significantly shorter and only slightly curved. The rear foot length varies between 5.2 and 7.0 cm.

Skull and skeletal features

Skull of a steppe pangolin

The skull reaches a length of 7.5 to 9 cm and is pear-shaped. The nasal bone and the frontal bone are relatively long, the latter larger than the parietal bone . The lower jaw is a clasp-like bone and has no articular process. The spine consists of 7 cervical, 12 thoracic, 5 lumbar, 3 sacrum and 21 sacral vertebrae, so a total of 48 vertebrae are formed. Compared to other pangolins, the pelvis has a significantly more vertical orientation, the hip hump ( tuber coxae ) is also more massive. This is due to the fact that the weight of the steppe pangolin is borne more by the hind legs, for example when walking on two feet.

distribution and habitat

Distribution area (green) of the steppe pangolin

The range of the steppe pangolin extends from eastern Chad , the north of the Central African Republic , the south of Sudan and the extreme west of Ethiopia over most of East Africa south to northern South Africa and from there west to Namibia and central Angola . A partially assumed occurrence in Somalia is rather unlikely. It is the most common pangolin species in Africa. The habitat comprises different types of landscape of bushy grasslands and savannas with often dense underground vegetation and annual rainfall between 250 and 1400 mm. The steppe pangolin also inhabits open forests, which are interspersed with Brachystegia or Julbernardia plants ( Miombo ) or are made up of Colophospermum mopane plant communities. It is also found in flooded areas, rocky terrain or agricultural areas, but not in extremely dry deserts and in dense forests with high levels of precipitation. In the latter, it is replaced by the related giant pangolin ( Smutsia gigantea ). The steppe pangolin predominantly lives in lowlands, but has been found at altitudes of 1700 m if there is enough food and water available. Overall, however, the steppe pangolin is relatively rare. The population density in the Kruger National Park is estimated at 0.24 individuals per square kilometer, in northwest Zimbabwe at 0.15 individuals per square kilometer. In the rather dry areas of the Kalahari on the southwestern edge of the distribution area, the assumed density of individuals is between 0.23 and 0.31 per square kilometer.

Way of life

Territorial behavior

Steppe pangolin

The steppe pangolin lives solitary and is largely nocturnal. Its main activity times are between 6:30 p.m. and midnight, young animals are usually active earlier and start at 2:30 p.m. Studies of animals from north-west Zimbabwe show that they spend almost two-thirds of their active time running and foraging, with the remainder being devoted to eating, digging and resting. Animals that begin their activities during the day spend only half of their time searching for food. The steppe pangolin is mainly found on the ground. There it usually walks on four feet, leaning on the outer edges of the front legs so as not to wear out the sharp grave claws. The head swings steadily back and forth as you walk and the tail touches the ground. In addition, the steppe pangolin is able to move only on its hind legs. The strong tail serves as a counterweight for the head and body. The tail is also used in climbing, for example when an animal has to overcome obstacles. In addition, the steppe pangolin is a good swimmer.

The individual animals use activity areas in which they stay for a longer period of up to several years. The action areas in Northwest Zimbabwe have a size of 10.35 to 11.07 km² for males and 5.65 to 7.49 km² for females. Younger animals usually have smaller territories, some of which only take up half the area or less than that of the older ones. In the Kruger National Park , the size of the action areas for males varies between 9.28 and 22.98 km², that of females between 0.65 and 6.66 km². In the rather dry Kalahari region, the differences in the size of the territories between the sexes are not quite as pronounced, the largest area observed here for a male was 11.91 km² and that of a female was 13.76 km². The action spaces of both the male and the female animals can overlap. The grazing areas are marked with urine , whereby the animals loosen the ground with their claws beforehand. After urinating, they roll with their bodies in the loosened ground and thus spread the scent marks when they wander through the dense underground vegetation. Males sometimes urinate directly against trees, rocks or the entrance of burrows, marking their area. This means that the main communication with conspecifics takes place via the excellently developed sense of smell . However, there is no real territoriality because the individual individuals do not actively defend their areas. If there is still a fight, it can last several hours and is carried out with arm strikes. Young animals that have left their mother often do not yet have their own roaming area and move around. They can cover several dozen kilometers in just a few days.

There are several earthworks as shelters distributed in the action areas. The density of males is 3 per square kilometer on average, while in females it is a good three times as high at 9.6 per square kilometer. The steppe pangolin rarely digs its own burrow; it often uses abandoned shelters that were created by aardvarks or jumping hares . In the Kalahari, aardvark burrows make up almost 70% of the plains pangolins' hideouts. An animal also uses rock overhangs or termite nests. One structure examined had an entrance 20 to 25 cm in diameter, followed by a 3 to 5 m long tunnel, the end of which was about 1 m below the surface of the earth. The burrows are used by males for up to 16 consecutive days, with females it is even up to 75 days before they change burrows. Occasionally, after a certain period of time, an animal also returns to a previously used den.

nutrition

The food of the steppe pangolin consists mainly of insects that form colonies such as ants and termites , so it is strictly myrmecophagous . Depending on the region, the animals are very picky when it comes to food. In humid regions, as in the Transvaal studies gave 16 preferred formic and termite species, in Kruger National Park 20, of which most individuals have sizes of at least 5 mm, and 9 in the northwest Zimbabwe In contrast, the ground pangolin captured in the dry Kalahari only a total of 5 Ant and termite species. The ants that are frequently eaten include representatives of the genera Anoplolepis , Polyrhachis , Camponotus , Crematogaster or Myrmicaria . Termites are represented by genera such as Hodotermes , Odontotermes or Trinervitermes . Dung beetles also play a subordinate role. In the Kruger National Park, ants make up by far the largest share in the diet with 96.7%, while Anoplolepis dominates with 77%. However, there are variations during the seasons, so that the ground pangolin in winter mostly Anoplolepis eats AGENT, in the summer but also reinforced those of Polyrhachis . Often only the larvae and eggs are eaten , more rarely adult individuals.

The animals look for food mostly opportunistically on the ground, keeping their heads close to the surface of the earth. Depending on the region, the steppe pangolin also rummages through tree stumps or bushes for food. The excellent sense of smell is used when searching for food. The intensity of the sniffing increases as soon as prey is located. Usually the steppe pangolin also begins to dig for underground insect passages, whereby the depth of the holes is only between 4 and 7 cm. Since it is not as good a grave as the giant pangolin or the aardvark , insect burrows deeper in the ground are not accessible to the animals. They open the burrows of ants and termites less often than other pangolins, which then happens with the large grave claws of the forefeet. The steppe pangolin avoids particularly hard insect burrows, such as those of Macrotermes . It often eats the insects right in front of active entrances to the burrows and when the flow of food there subsides, the animal breaks open a new hole. Food is consumed with the long, sticky tongue, which can be stuck out 20 to 30 cm from the mouth. It also swallows parts of the insect's nest and stones up to 9 mm in size as "bycatch". The duration of the individual feeding phases is very short and averages only 40 seconds, which is attributed to the aggressiveness of the prey when defending the burrow. While eating, an ant or termite den is not completely destroyed, an animal returns several times in a row.

Although the steppe pangolin is largely nocturnal, it also spends part of its food intake during the day or at dusk. This is especially true for young animals or sub- adult individuals; this may also be used to avoid being stalked by nocturnal predators, as the scales of these animals have not yet fully hardened. Depending on the availability of food, an animal spends 7 to 34% of its daily budget on eating, with the duration being shortest in bank thickets, while it is the longest in diurnal individuals. Male animals travel between 200 and 3800 m daily to search for food, females between 40 and 2200 m. The steppe pangolin often lives near water sources. But it also digs small holes to collect rainwater.

Reproduction

The mating season is probably not limited by the season, and births in the wild have only rarely been observed. The females examined in the Kruger National Park were mostly pregnant during the dry season. The sexual act lasts up to 30 minutes, during which the tails of the female and male are intertwined. This may be preceded by several days of common activity. After a gestation period of around 140 days , the female gives birth to a single young, rarely twins. Newborns are 6 to 18 cm long and weigh 340 to 425 g. They have open eyes and still soft scales that harden only in the first days of life. The newborn spends the first few weeks protected in a burrow, then and when changing the burrow it rides on the base of the mother's tail. In this early phase, the mother protects her young from danger by curling up around them. At around four to five weeks of age, the young animal eats solid food, it usually leaves the den during the day independently of the mother animal and first eats in its immediate vicinity, later it moves further and further away. It grows relatively quickly and can weigh around 3.5 kg after a year. Above this weight, it is usually no longer carried by the mother. Weaning takes place after around four months. Females can become ruthless again while their young are being reared. Little is known about the life expectancy of the steppe pangolin in the wild.

Predators and enemy behavior

Rolled up steppe pangolin

Significant predator represent the lion , the leopard and the hyena is. Sometimes captured and the honey badger a ground pangolin, as is the Nile . When there is an emerging danger, an animal often remains motionless and is therefore hardly visible due to the scale color. When danger is approaching, it sticks its head through its hind legs and presents the sharp scales as the first defense reaction. Immediately threatened, it completely rolls up into a ball and protects the unscaled parts of the body with its tail. Attentive or alert animals will also make a growling sound.

Parasites

Little is known about parasites . The outer ones include ticks of the genera Amblyomma and Ornithodorus , which often appear in large numbers. Furthermore, mites of the genus Manitherionyssus were detected. To relieve parasite infestation, the steppe pangolin often wallows in the mud or dung of large herbivores.

Systematics

Internal systematics of the Manidae according to Gaubert et al. 2018
  Manidae  
  Manis  


 Manis crassicaudata


   

 Manis culionensis


   

 Manis javanica




   

 Manis pentadactyla



   
  Smutsia  

 Smutsia gigantea


   

 Smutsia temminckii



  Phataginus  

 Phataginus tetradactyla


   

 Phataginus tricuspis





Template: Klade / Maintenance / Style
Historical drawing of the steppe pangolin from 1876
Steppe pangolin

The steppe pangolin is a species from the genus Smutsia , which includes the ground-dwelling pangolins of Africa. With the giant pangolin ( Smutsia gigantea ) another one is assigned to it. According to molecular genetic analyzes, the two species separated from each other in the Upper Miocene about 9.8 million years ago. Smutsia in turn belongs to the subfamily of Smutsiinae as their only relative, and to the family of pangolins (Manidae). The sister taxon of the Smutsiinae are the Phatagininae . These combine with the genus Phataginus the tree-dwelling pangolins of Africa. The Asian pangolins, which are classified within the genus Manis and the subfamily of the Maninae , are to be understood as more distant relatives. The pangolins are currently the only member of the Pholidota order , so they are monotypical . The group is largely related to the predators (Carnivora), but the relationship to one another was only determined and verified through genetic studies.

But there are also other attempts at structuring the pangolins. The genus Manis , which includes the Asian representatives, is often regarded as the only recognized genus of pangolin. The other genera including Smutsia then have the status of subgenera. Furthermore, some researchers are of the opinion that the pangolins are much more fragmented. Here the African species are then referred to a total of three genera. Smutsia also includes the ground-dwelling pangolins, but the tree-dwelling pangolins are then divided into the genera Phataginus ( white-bellied pangolin ) and Uromanis ( long-tailed pangolin ). The division of the pangolin family into the three genera Manis , Phataginus and Smutsia , which is favored today , was first proposed at the end of the 1990s. Subsequent anatomical and phylogenetic studies supported this view.

No subspecies of the steppe pangolin are distinguished. Fossil finds are extremely rare. Some remains from Nelson Bay Cave in South Africa have been reported to be between 12,000 and 18,000 years old, but their assignment to the steppe pangolin is uncertain today.

The first scientific description was made in 1832 by the South African zoologist Johannes Smuts under the name Manis temminckii . Smuts examined a skeleton with parts of the scale armor that was then kept in the Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie in Leiden (now Naturalis ). According to Smuts, the holotype specimen came from the Latukou region near Kuruman in what is today the South African province of the North Cape , which is now regarded as the type area for the species. The name Smutsia temminckii , which is valid today, comes from John Edward Gray in 1865. The species name temminckii honors the Dutch zoologist Coenraad Jacob Temminck , who at the time granted access to the collection to Johannes Smuts as director of the Leiden Natural History Museum.

Threat and protection

The steppe pangolin is hunted regularly. The meat is considered a delicacy and thus reaches local markets as bushmeat . On the other hand, the scales and other parts of the body are said to have healing powers. This gives the animals meaning in local medical customs, such as the muthi . In Tanzania , the steppe pangolin is known as Bwana mganga ("doctor"), as a certain medical effectiveness is assumed for all parts of the body. Furthermore, it is considered to bring luck and rain, and the scales are also used in traditional clothing and jewelry. Increasing international trade is becoming more and more important, mainly to East and Southeast Asia , where pangolins are particularly common in traditional Chinese medicine . Between 2000 and 2011, a total of 17 steppe pangolins were confiscated by authorities in southern Africa; in 2012 and 2013 there were more than 60. Since 2010 alone, trade has increased exponentially. The resulting, sometimes intensive, hunting of the animals led to individual populations , for example in the South African provinces of KwaZulu-Natal and Free State , collapsing. The pangolin has been subject to the Washington Convention on the Protection of Species (CITES) since 2000 , which means that any trade in animals or their body parts is prohibited ( CITES zero annual export quota ).

Electric fences , which are set up to fence private wildlife parks or pastures, are a major threat to the steppe pangolin. According to calculations, there are electric fences over a length of 13,220 km in southern Africa within the range of the steppe pangolin. With an assumed death rate of 0.09 steppe pangolin per kilometer per year (resulting from the observation of over 20 dead animals along the 93 km long fence of the Kalahari Oryx Private Game Farm between September 2009 and August 2012) this results in around 1190 pangolins killed annually . However, other experts assume a far lower death rate, which is around a third. Traffic accidents and leghold traps , which in southern Africa are often designed to protect grazing animals from predators, represent further potential hazards . In addition, there is the destruction of the habitat through the spread of human settlements and economically used areas.

The IUCN lists the ground pangolin virtue of such threats as "endangered" in its portfolio ( vulnerable ). The pangolin is represented in numerous national parks and reserves and is protected by local legislation. Further protective measures include, above all, studies of the regional population density, the determination of the current area of ​​distribution and the extent of the decline in populations caused by human influences and their mitigation. In addition, surveys on global trade must be included.

literature

  • Phillipe Gaubert: Order Pholidota. In: Don E. Wilson and Russell A. Mittermeier (eds.): Handbook of the Mammals of the World. Volume 2: Hooved Mammals. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona 2011, ISBN 978-84-96553-77-4 , pp. 82–103 (pp. 100–101)
  • Martha E. Heat: Manis temminckii. Mammalian Species 415, 1992, pp. 1-5
  • Ronald M. Nowak: Walker's Mammals of the World . Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999 ISBN 0801857899
  • Don E. Wilson, DeeAnn M. Reeder (Eds.): Mammal Species of the World . 3rd edition. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore 2005, ISBN 0-8018-8221-4
  • Jonathan Swart: Smutsia temminckii Ground Pangolin (Temminck's Ground Pangolin, Cape Pangolin). In: Jonathan Kingdom, David Happold, Michael Hoffmann, Thomas Butynski, Meredith Happold and Jan Kalina (eds.): Mammals of Africa Volume V. Carnivores pangolins, equids and rhinoceroses. Bloomsbury, London, 2013, pp. 400-405

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Martha E. Heath and Ian M. Coulson: Measurements of length and mass in a wild population of Cape pangolins (Manis temminckii) in north-west Zimbabwe. African Journal of Ecology 36, 1998, pp. 267-270
  2. ↑ a b c d e N. HG Jacobsen, RE Newbery, MJ de Wet, PC Viljoen and E. Pietersen: A contribution of the ecology of the Steppe Pangolin Manis temminckii in the Transvaal. Zeitschrift für Mammalskunde 56 (2), 1991, pp. 94-100
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Phillipe Gaubert: Order Pholidota. In: Don E. Wilson and Russell A. Mittermeier (eds.): Handbook of the Mammals of the World. Volume 2: Hooved Mammals. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona 2011, ISBN 978-84-96553-77-4 , pp. 82–103 (pp. 100–101)
  4. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Jonathan Swart: Smutsia temminckii Ground Pangolin (Temminck's Ground Pangolin, Cape Pangolin). In: Jonathan Kingdom, David Happold, Michael Hoffmann, Thomas Butynski, Meredith Happold and Jan Kalina (eds.): Mammals of Africa Volume V. Carnivores pangolins, equids and rhinoceroses. Bloomsbury, London, 2013, pp. 400-405
  5. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l Martha E. Heath: Manis temminckii. Mammalian Species 415, 1992, pp. 1-5
  6. ↑ Jennifer Botha and Timothy Gaudin: An Early Pliocene pangolin (Mammalia; Pholidota) from Langebaahnweg, South Africa. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 27 (2), 2007, pp. 484-491
  7. ^ FA Jentink: Revision of the Manidae in the Leyden Museum. Notes from the Leyden Museum 4, 1882, pp. 193-209
  8. ↑ a b c d Renee A. Richer, Ian M. Coulson and Martha E. Heath: Foraging behavior and ecology of the Cape pangolin (Manis temminckii) in north-western Zimbabwe. African Journal of Ecology 35, 1997, pp. 361-369
  9. ↑ a b c d Darren W. Pietersen, Andrew E. McKechnie and Raymond Jansen: Home Range, Habitat Selection and Activity Patterns of an Arid-Zone Population of Temminck's Ground Pangolins, Smutsia temminckii. African Zoology 49 (2), 2014, pp. 265-276
  10. ^ Martha E. Heath and Ian Coulson: Preliminary studies on relocation of Cape pangolins, Manis temminckii. South African Journal of Wildlife Research 27 (2), 1997, pp. 51-56
  11. ^ A b Martha E. Heath and Ian Coulson: Home range size and distribution in a wild population of Cape pangolins, Manis temminckii, in north-west Zimbabwe. African Journal of Ecology 35 (2), 1997, pp. 94-109
  12. ↑ a b c Jonathan M. Swart, PRK Richardson and JWH Ferguson: Ecological factors affecting the feeding behavior of pangolins (Manis temminckii). Journal of Zoology, London 247, 1999, pp. 281-292
  13. ^ DW Pietersen, CT Symes, S. Woodborne, AE McKechnie, and R. Jansen: Diet and prey selectivity of the specialist myrmecophage, Temminck's ground pangolin. Journal of Zoology 298 (3), 2016, pp. 198-208
  14. ↑ OV Voltzit and JE Keiran: A review of African Amblyomma species (Acari, Ixodida, Ixodidae). Acarina 11 (2), 2003, pp. 135-214
  15. ↑ a b c Philippe Gaubert, Agostinho Antunes, Hao Meng, Lin Miao, Stéphane Peigné, Fabienne Justy, Flobert Njiokou, Sylvain Dufour, Emmanuel Danquah, Jayanthi Alahakoon, Erik Verheyen, William T. Stanley, Stephen J. O'Brien, Warren E. Johnson and Shu-Jin Luo: The Complete Phylogeny of Pangolins: Scaling Up Resources for the Molecular Tracing of the Most Trafficked Mammals on Earth. Journal of Heredity 109, 2018, pp. 347-359, doi: 10.1093 / jhered / esx097
  16. ↑ William J. Murphy, Eduardo Eizirik, Stephen J. O'Brien, Ole Madsen, Mark Scally, Christophe J. Douady, Emma Teeling, Oliver A. Ryder, Michael J. Stanhope, Wilfried W. de Jong and Mark S. Springer : Resolution of the Early Placental Mammal Radiation Using Bayesian Phylogenetics. Science 294, 2001, pp. 2348-2351
  17. ^ A b Timothy J. Gaudin, Robert J. Emry, and John R. Wible: The Phylogeny of Living and Extinct Pangolins (Mammalia, Pholidota) and Associated Taxa: A Morphology Based Analysis. Journal of Mammalian Evolution 16, 2009, pp. 235-305
  18. ↑ Don E. Wilson, DeeAnn M. Reeder (Ed.): Mammal Species of the World . 3rd edition. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore 2005, ISBN 0-8018-8221-4 ( [1] )
  19. ↑ Malcolm C. McKenna and Susan K. Bell: Classification of mammals above the species level. Columbia University Press, New York, 1997, pp. 1-631 (pp. 221-222)
  20. ↑ Timothy J. Gaudin and John R. Wible: The entotympanic of pangolins and the phylogeny of the Pholidota. Journal of Mammalian Evolution 6 (1), 1999, pp. 39-65
  21. ^ Wighart von Koenigswald: Order Pholidota. In: Gertrud E. Rössner and Kurt Heissig: The Miocene land mammals of Europe. Munich, 1999, pp. 75-79
  22. ^ Richard G. Klein: The Late Quaternary Mammalian Fauna of Nelson Bay Cave (Cape Province, South Africa): Its Implications for Megafaunal Extinctions and Environmental and Cultural Change. Quaternary Research 2, 1972, pp. 135-142
  23. ↑ Timothy J. Gaudin: Pholidota. In: Lars Werdelin and William Joseph Sanders (eds.): Cenozoic Mammals of Africa. University of California Press, Berkeley, London, New York, 2010, pp. 599-602
  24. ↑ Johannes Smuts: Enumerationem Mammalium Capensium. JV Cyfveer, Leidae, 1832, pp. 1–108 (pp. 54–57) ( [2] )
  25. ↑ John Edward Gray: Revision of the genera and species of entomophagous Edentata, founded on the examination of the specimens in the British Museum. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1965, pp. 359-386 (pp. 360, 369) ( [3] )
  26. ↑ a b Darren W. Pietersen, Andrew E. McKechnie and Raymond Jansen: A Review of the Anthropogenic Threats Faced by Temminck's Ground Pangolin, Smutsia temminckii, in Southern Africa. South African Journal of Wildlife Research 44 (2), 2014, pp. 167-178
  27. ↑ Daniel WS Challender and Lisa Hywood: African pangolins under Increased pressure from poaching and intercontinental trade. TRAFFIC Bulletin 24 (2), 2012, pp. 53-55
  28. ↑ a b c Darren W. Pietersen, C. Waterman, L. Hywood, P. Rankin and D. Soewu: Smutsia temminckii. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.3. ( [4] ); last accessed on January 2, 2015

Web links

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