What is the only living member of the family Orycteropodidae?

The aardvark is the only living member of the family Orycteropodidae. Its scientific name is Orycteropus afer, and it is also the sole surviving species in its genus and order, Tubulidentata.

Aardvarks are nocturnal mammals native to sub-Saharan Africa. They use powerful forelimbs and large claws to excavate termite mounds and ant nests, then capture insects with a long, sticky tongue. They also dig extensive burrows for shelter from heat and predators, and females usually raise a single young at a time.

The aardvark is often mistaken for an anteater, armadillo, or pig because of its snout, digging habits, and toothless-looking mouth. Those similarities are examples of convergent evolution, not close relationship. Aardvarks are afrotherians, placing them on a broader evolutionary branch that also includes elephants, hyraxes, tenrecs, and elephant shrews.

The family once included many fossil species spread across Africa and parts of Eurasia. Today, the aardvark is the lone surviving representative of that ancient lineage, making its unusual tubule-structured teeth especially important to mammalian evolutionary studies.