Pangolins: Feet

Summary: Pangolins have one of the strangest gaits in the animal kingdom! Join Kiersten and a special co-host as they talk about pangolin feet and gait.

 

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

 

Show Notes:

Pangolin ID Guide: https://www.usaidrdw.org//resources/pangolin-species-identification-guide/pangolin-id-guide-rast-english.pdf

The Encyclopedia of Mammals edited by Dr. David Macdonald

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 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. 

 

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

 

This episode continues pangolins and my sixth favorite thing about pangolins is the way they walk!

 

For this explode, I have a guest co-host, my husband Georgiy, say hello Georgiy!

 

Georgiy - Hello, everyone!

 

Kiersten - He is going to help me talk about pangolin feet and their gait (G-A-I-T), which is the way they walk.

 

Welcome Georgiy. Are you excited to get started?

 

Georgiy -  Da!

 

Kiersten - (whispers: That means yes! ) I’m excited to have you with me too! Let’s get started with the structure of pangolin feet! 

 

Georgiy -  I know you have done a little research on pangolin feet, can you tell our listeners what you have learned?

 

Kiersten - Absolutely! Pangolins have 4 feet. Each foot has 5 toes. Each toe has a claw. The front feet of each species has 3 long, curved claws and 2 shorter claws. Their back feet also have five toes and five claws. The paws of each species isa bit differnt. The Giant ground pangolin, the Cape ground pangolin, the Chinese pangolin, and the Indian pangolin have front claws that are much longer than their back feet. The claws on the back feet are more like nails, sort of like a dog’s nails, rather than claws. Tree pangolins such as the Black-bellied and White-bellied pangolins have only slightly longer claws on their front feet compared to their back feet. But if we compare tree pangolin back feet to ground pangolin back feet, the tree pangolin’s back claws re longer than the ground pangolin’s back claws.

 

Georgiy - Wow! Why do you think the claws are different between the species?

 

Kiersten - I don’t know, but it may be because they use their feet a little differently. Ground pangolins walk on flatter surfaces more than tree pangolins so the shorter nails on the back may make it easier to walk and help steady themselves when they dig burrows, while tree pangolins spend most of their time in trees and having claws that are a bit longer on all four feet allow them to grasp the tree more tightly, help them propel upwards when they climb up a tree and help steady them when they are sleeping. 

 

Georgiy - That’s fascinating. 

 

Kiersten - Another difference between terrestrial and arboreal pangolin feet can be seen in the shape of their feet. Ground pangolins back feet are a bit more flat than their front feet. Think of a rhino’s feet that are flat and round, that’s kind of what the Cape pangolin and Giant pangolin feet look like. Their front feet are also a bit flatter than tree pangolins but they are more similar to a hand rather than a foot. The more arboreal pangolins front and back feet look more like hands with slightly longer more separated toes, kind of like mouse feet.

 

Georgiy - What else do they use those claws for?

 

Kiersten - To tear open ant mounds, of course, to find their favorite food. Ants! Males will also use the long claws to fight each other during breeding season.

 

Georgiy - Well those long claws sound very useful but it seems like it might be kind of hard to walk with them.

 

Kiersten - It is!  Pangolins do use all four feet to walk but with the longer claws it’s more like a shuffle. Terrestrial pangolins will actually balance on the outer edges of the front feet.

 

Georgiy - How does that work?

 

Kiersten -  Well, Ground pangolins tuck the long claws on their front feet under to protect them and they walk on the edges of their front feet, it’s kind of like if you fold your fingers down flat against the palm of your hand and only use to side of your hand to touch or hold things. That gives them an unusual shuffling gait.

 

Georgiy - That’s cool! But it sounds like they all move pretty slow?

 

Kiersten - On average, they do walk slowly but they can move quicker when the need to. And by quicker, I mean 3 mph which compared to an animal like a cheetah, that can run for short distances at 80 mph, is still pretty slow but for a small ,short legged mammal it’s fairly impressive. To move quicker, though, they have to change their center of balance.

 

Georgiy - How do they do that?

 

Kiersten - I am so glad you asked because this is my favorite thing about how they walk. When they need to move more quickly on the ground pangolins can lean back and hold all of their weight on their back feet, they hold their front feet up under their chest, kind of like a Tyrannosaurus Rex, and use their tail to help balance themselves. Then they can take off like the wind! 

 

Georgiy - Really? The wind?

 

Kiersten - Okay, maybe more like a slight breeze. It is one of the most unusual gaits in the animal kingdom. They look like a hunched over old man.

 

Georgiy - Or a dinosaur!

 

Kiesten - (laughs) Or a dinosaur. I’ll agree with that!

Thanks for helping me talk about pangolin feet Georgiy.  

 

Georgiy - You’re welcome!

 

Kiersten - It is my sixth favorite thing about pangolins.

 

Please visit savepangolins.org to find out even more about pangolins and discover what you can do to save this unique animal. To help the African Cape Pangolin visit the Rare and Endangered Species Trust at restnamibia.org and to learn more about Asian pangolins and help the Sunda and Chinese pangolin visit Save Vietnam’s Wildlife at svw.vn. 

 

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.