The aardwolf (Proteles cristata) is an insectivorous species of hyena, native to East and Southern Africa. Its name means 'earth-wolf' in Afrikaans and Dutch. It is also called maanhaar-jackal (Afrikaans for 'mane-jackal'), termite-eating hyena and civet hyena, based on its habit of secreting substances from its anal gland, a characteristic shared with the African civet. Unlike many of its relatives in the order Carnivora, the aardwolf does not hunt large animals. It eats insects and their larvae, mainly termites; one aardwolf can lap up as many as 250,000 termites during a single night using its long, sticky tongue. The aardwolf's tongue has adapted to be tough enough to withstand the strong bite of termites. (Source: Wikipedia.org, CC BY-SA)