pangolin
/paŋˈɡə(ʊ)lɪn
/noun
An African and Asian mammal that has a body covered with horny overlapping scales, a small head with an elongated snout, a long sticky tongue for catching ants and termites, and a tapering tail. Also called scaly anteater.
- Family Manidae and order Pholidota: genera Manis (three species in Asia) and Phataginus (four species in Africa).
- An alternative strategy can be seen in anteaters and pangolins: the tongue has lost most of its cranial attachments.
- Like pangolins, aardvarks have a long, protrusile tongue and a gizzard-like stomach.
Origin
Late 18th century: from Malay peng-guling, literally 'roller' (from its habit of rolling into a ball).
Rhymes
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- Mathematical Markup Language
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- Mather, Cotton
- Mather, Increase