Smutsia ("Johannes Smuts animal") or African ground pangolin is a genus of from subfamily Smutsiinae within family Manidae.[Philippe Gaubert, Agostinho Antunes, Hao Meng, Lin Miao, Stéphane Peigné, Fabienne Justy, Flobert Njiokou, Sylvain Dufour, Emmanuel Danquah, Jayanthi Alahakoon, Erik Verheyen, William T Stanley, Stephen J O'Brien, Warren E Johnson, Shu-Jin Luo (2018) "The Complete Phylogeny of Pangolins: Scaling Up Resources for the Molecular Tracing of the Most Trafficked Mammals on Earth" Journal of Heredity, Volume 109, Issue 4, Pages 347–359][Sean P. Heighton, Rémi Allio, Jérôme Murienne, Jordi Salmona, Hao Meng, Céline Scornavacca, Armanda D. S. Bastos, Flobert Njiokou, Darren W. Pietersen, Marie-Ka Tilak, Shu-Jin Luo, Frédéric Delsuc, Philippe Gaubert (2023.) "Pangolin genomes offer key insights and resources for the world's most trafficked wild mammals"] It was formerly considered a subgenus of genus Manis.
Etymology
British
naturalist John Edward Gray named
Smutsia for
naturalist
Johannes Smuts (1808–1869),
the first South African to write a
treatise on mammals in 1832 (in which he described the species
Ground pangolin).
Description
The
Smutsia species can be easily distinguished due to a layer of protective horny scales covering their long streamlined bodies, small cone-shaped heads, and thick tails. Resembling artichoke leaves, the scales are composed of fused hairs. When threatened, members of the species roll into an impenetrable ball, leaving the sharp, yellow-brown scales exposed to the predator.
Diet and nutrition
Ground pangolins are carnivorous animals which mainly eat
termites and
ants, though
and other soft-bodied
insects are also consumed on occasion.
Mating life
Ground pangolins reach sexual maturity at around 5–7 years of age. The species is described as polygynous: one male will
mating with multiple females, but females tend to mate with only a single male. The gestation period lasts for 139 days, with each pregnancy yielding a single offspring. Mothers and their young shelter underground until the pups reach 2 to 4 weeks of age, at which stage they are carried outside the nest, though they remain with their mothers for 3 months.
Taxonomy
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Subfamily: Smutsiinae (large African pangolins)
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Genus: Smutsia (African ground pangolin)
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Phylogeny
Phylogenetic position of genus
Smutsia within family Manidae based on Wangmo (2025.) study:
See also
