biology

List of pholidotans

List of pholidotans is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand List of pholidotans rather than just read about it. In short: Pholidota is an order of placental mammals in the Pholidotamorpha clade. A member of this order is called a pholidotan or a pangolin.

Key takeaways

List of pholidotans belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect List of pholidotans to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of List of pholidotans from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Pholidota is an order of placental mammals in the Pholidotamorpha clade. A member of this order is called a pholidotan or a pangolin. They are distributed throughout Africa, the Indian subcontinent and southeast Asia, and are usually found in habitats such as savannas, forests, grasslands and shrublands. Pholidotans range in size from the giant pangolin, at 30 kg (66 lb) and 68 cm (27 in) in length, to the tree pangolin, at only 2.3 kg (5.1 lb) and 34 cm (13 in) in length. They have large, hardened, keratin scales which cover their skin, and long claws which they use for digging or climbing trees. Most species are nocturnal and feed primarily on ants and termites, though other insects may also be taken. Despite only a few pholidotans having population estimates, all eight species are classified as threatened by the IUCN Red List, with three being classified as critically endangered, largely due to intensive poaching of their keratin scales. The eight extant species of Pholidota are assigned to the family Manidae which is split into three genera within three subfamilies: Maninae (Asian pangolins), Phatagininae (African tree pangolins) and Smutsiinae (African ground pangolins). A ninth species, Manis mysteria, was proposed in 2023, though its status as valid taxa remains uncertain. Around a dozen extinct prehistoric pholidotan species have been described; however, due to ongoing research the exact categorization and number is not fixed.

Conventions

The author citation for the species or genus is given after the scientific name; parentheses around the author citation indicate that this was not the original taxonomic placement. Conservation status codes listed follow the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. Range maps are provided where possible; if unavailable, a description of the species will instead be provided. All extinct species and subspecies listed alongside extant species went extinct in prehistoric times, and are indicated by dagger symbol "†". Population figures are rounded to the nearest hundred.

Classification The Pholidota order is composed of eight extant species belonging to three genera in three subfamilies. This does not include extinct species or hybrid animals.

Family Manidae Subfamily Maninae Genus: Manis (Asian pangolins): four species Subfamily Phatagininae Genus: Phataginus (African tree pangolins): two species Subfamily Smutsiinae Genus: Smutsia (African ground pangolins): two species

Pholidotans The following classification is based on the taxonomy described by the reference work Mammal Species of the World (2005), with augmentation by generally accepted proposals made since using molecular phylogenetic analysis, as supported by the IUCN Red List.

Subfamily Maninae

Subfamily Phatagininae

Subfamily Smutsiinae

Prehistoric pholidotans In addition to extant species, multiple extinct species have been described and classified into Pholidota. They are placed into three extinct families: Eomanidae, Patriomanidae and Eurotamandua, as well as the extant family Manidae. The genus Necromanis on the other hand, is placed as incertae sedis within the pholidotid superfamily Manoidea, together with the families Manidae and Patriomanidae. Euromanis, a genus described in 2009, is not placed under any family and is instead assigned to the Pholidota order. The extinct species listed here are mainly based on the 2019 reference work Pangolins: Science, Society and Conservation, unless otherwise cited. Where available, the temporal range of each species will be given in millions of years before the present time (mya). This list will only contain taxa that went extinct during prehistoric times.

Superfamily Manoidea

Family Patriomanidae

Family Eurotamanduidae

Family Eomanidae

Family Manidae

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with List of pholidotans

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what List of pholidotans claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to List of pholidotans before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about List of pholidotans ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of List of pholidotans

In research: List of pholidotans appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses List of pholidotans in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: List of pholidotans is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Lists of animal species, Lists of placental mammals, Pangolins, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for List of pholidotans outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study List of pholidotans in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what List of pholidotans means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain List of pholidotans out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is List of pholidotans in simple terms?

Pholidota is an order of placental mammals in the Pholidotamorpha clade. A member of this order is called a pholidotan or a pangolin.

Why does List of pholidotans matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study List of pholidotans?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on List of pholidotans.