The pangolin is also called scaly anteater. Most species feed at night, sleep during the day, and roll into an impenetrable ball when threatened. Pangolins are the only mammals to have keratin scales as protection. Keratin is the same material that makes up claws and fingernails. On baby pangolins, the scales are soft, but they harden by adulthood. An adult pangolin can use both its claws and sharp scales on its tail as weapons to slash at attackers.
They use their excellent sense of smell to locate anthills and termite mounds in the darkness. They then use their sharp claws to burrow deep into these mounds, where they shove their long, sticky tongues in to snatch up hundreds or thousands of the insects. This is their sole source of food. Intelligent animals, pangolins often use their cleverness to get at obscure sources of food. . The pangolin gets its name from a Malay word pengguling, which means "something that rolls up.”
