Ten Things I Like About Pangolins: Scales

Summary: What is a pangolin? It's an amazing creature that looks like a living breathing artichoke! Join Kiersten as she begins this series of podcast talking about this mammal's scales. That right, this is a mammal with scales!

 

For my hearing impaired listeners, a transcript of this podcast follows the show notes.

 

Show Notes: 

References for this episode - The Encyclopedia of Mammals edited by Dr. David Macdonald

www.savepangolins.org

https://www.discoverwildlife.com/animal-facts/mammals/facts-about-pangolins

Pangolin Conservation Organizations: 

Rare and Endangered Species Trust - www.restnamibia.org

Save Vietnam’s Wildlife - www.svw.vn

 

Transcript

(Piano music plays)

Kiersten - This is Ten Things I Like About…a ten minute, ten episode podcast about unknown or misunderstood wildlife.

(Piano music stops)

 

Welcome to the pilot episode of Ten Things I Like About… This is a podcast about misunderstood or unknown creatures in nature. Some we’ll find right out side our doors and some are continents away but all are fascinating. 

 

Just a bit about my background: My name is Kiersten and I have a Master’s Degree in Animal Behavior and did my thesis on the breeding behavior of the Tri-colored bat. I was a zookeeper for many years and have worked with all sorts of animals from Aba Aba fish to tigers to ravens to domesticated dogs and so many more in between. Many of those years were spent in education programs and the most important lesson I learned was that the more information someone has about a particular animal the less they fear them. The less they fear them the more they crave information about them and before you know it you’ve become an advocate for that misunderstood animal.

 

This podcast will focus ten, ten minute episodes on different animals and their amazing characteristics. Please join me on this fascinating journey, you won’t regret it.

 

Now that the housekeeping is out of the way, let’s get started with our first animal, the pangolin. A pangolin is a mammal that is found in both Asia and Africa, there are eight species of pangolin. Their diet consists mainly of ants and termites. In general they have an elongated head and tapered muzzle, and a long slender body with a tail that is often the longest portion of their body. The most unique thing about pangolins is that they are covered in scales. Yes that’s right, this is a mammal covered in scales. They look like living breathing artichokes! It’s the only mammal on the plant that is covered in scales. 

 

For those of you who remember grade school one of the key characteristics of mammals is that they are covered in fur, or at least have some hair on their body. So how is this a mammal if it’s covered in scales? The scales are made of keratin which is the fibrous protein that is the main structure of hair. These scales are similar to our finger nails but much, much thicker. The scales of a pangolin make up almost 20% of their body weight! Can you imagine having so much hair on your body that it equals 20 %of your body weight? Talk about a Rapunzel moment.

 

As an aside, pangolins also follow the other three tenants of mammals which are: giving live birth ( and pangolin babies are some of the cutest babies on the planet), nursing their young with milk they produce themselves, and being endothermic (which means they are warm-blooded).

 

Their scales grow directly out of the skin and are anchored at the base of the scale. They grow from the base and wear away at the ends. Just like our finger nails! As pangolins dig through dirt or climb through trees the scales are filed down or chipped. The scales grow continuously through the pangolins life and can be shed and replaced as the pangolin ages. 

 

Pangolins are covered from nose to tail by these scales with the exception of their underbelly and the inner surfaces of their legs and that is covered with, you guessed it, hair. A great way to tell the difference between Asian and African pangolins is to look for the sparse bristle hairs that stick out in between the Asian pangolins scales. African species don't have the hair between the scales.

 

Pangolin scales can come in many different colors depending on the species. They can vary in color from a tannish light brown to dark brown to olive to black.

 

Because of these scales pangolins are also referred to as scaly anteaters, even though they are not related to anteaters. You may be asking yourself, what is the purpose of these scales. Plenty of mammals run around only covered in fur, why do pangolins have scales?

 

Excellent and observant question.

 

The scales on pangolins are overlapping. They grow directly out of the skin and act as armor protecting them from ants. When a pangolin finds an ant nest it tears it open to get to the ants inside. As anyone who has accidentally, or purposely, disturbed an ant nest knows, the ants don’t calmly come out to investigate what is happening to their nest. Oh no, they swarm the intruder with the intent of biting them to the brink of death. When your diet consists mainly of something that bites back you need a way to protect yourself while you eat. Enter overlapping scales made of tough keratin. The ants cannot bite through the thick, keratin scales and the overlapping structure prevents the ants from getting down to the vulnerable skin. 

 

The size of the scales varies depending on the species from just under 2 centimeters on the White bellied Tree Pangolin to almost 12 centimeters on the Giant Ground Pangolin. The shape will also very depending on the species and where the scale is found on the body. Most look like a small clam shell while some look like a human fingernail.

 

This is nature at its best but it’s not the only reason for the scale armor. Pangolins in both Asia and Africa have to worry about predators that do not want to pass up what they think might be an easy meal.  But a pangolin is far from an easy meal. They can curl into a ball so tight that not one millimeter of their soft underbelly is exposed. 

 

These scales are extremely thick and slick, it’s almost impossible for a predator to bite through them. Only lions, hyenas, and leopards have a chance of getting through the pangolin’s defenses and it’s often too much work for them as well. Filmmakers ands scientists have seen a pride of lions give up on opening a pangolin because of the difficulty getting them open once they’ve rolled up. A few minutes after the pride left, the pangolin got up and trotted away unharmed.

 

This armor is so effective at warding off attacks that scientists at the University of California, San Diego are studying why it is so effective in an effort to improve human body armor. The scientists have discovered that the key seems to be in the overlapping structure of the scales and are focusing on the three shapes of scales found on the pangolin. The broad rhombic shape found near the shoulders, the peltate shape found along the torso, and the folding shape found along the tail are the three main shapes they are studying. The orientation of the scales is also important. Pangolin scales point backwards from the nose to tail with the sharp edge exposed. Their next steps in studying pangolin scales is to measure compression, bending, nanoscratch and nano indentation. I can’t wait to see what they find!

 

The sharp edges of the scales can also make a good weapon and when a pangolin is threatened they can wave their tail back and forth using the sharp scales as a pre roll-up defense strategy. Many of the scales on pangolins are sharp enough to cut through skin.

 

These hard, overlapping scales that make pangolins look like pinecones are one of their most amazing attributes but it is also a significant reason for their decline in population. Pangolins have become the most trafficked animals on the black market and it’s mainly due to their scales. Many Asian cultures use their scales in eastern medicine believing they can magically cure illnesses, even though they are made of keratin which has no medicinal value. The main countries demanding illegal pangolin scales are China and Vietnam.

 

In 2017 the government of Cameroon burned 80,000kgs of confiscated pangolin scales. That’s approximately 15,000 dead pangolins. Between the years of 2014 and 2018, 185 tons of scales were confiscated by authorities, an equivalent of 370,000 dead pangolins. All eight species of pangolin are listed as critically endangered, endangered, or vulnerable by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, more commonly known as the IUCN.

 

Please visit save pangolins.org to find out what you can to to save this unique animal.

Join me next week for another ten minute podcast focusing on another thing I like about pangolins.

 

(Piano music plays)

This has been an episode of Ten Things I like About with Kiersten and Company. Original music written and performed by Katherine Camp, piano extraordinaire.