The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Aardwolf

AARDWOLF (Dutch, “earth-wolf”), a timid, nocturnal South African carnivore (Proteles lalandii), the only representative of the family Protelidæ. It resembles the hyena, to which it is closely related, but has less strength of jaw and teeth. Its fur is coarse; color ash-gray irregularly striped black; muzzle, black and nearly naked; ears, brown outside, gray within. It inhabits burrows, and being unable to kill vertebrates lives upon insects, larvæ, and small carrion.