PANGOLIN
Good that I have armour
Which is flexible
Perhaps scaly
As a pangolin’s skin
Perhaps shiny
And repulsive
Good that I grew it
Good that I fight
Good that you can’t hurt me
And even if you do
You cannot kill me
Good, good
Anteaters
Eat ants obviously
Little pesky biters
And stingers
Dart Whoosh
Done
Pangolins, or scaly anteaters, take their name from the Malay word pengguling, meaning "one who rolls up." They belong to the order Pholidota (from the Greek for "horny scale"). The only extant family, Manidae, has three genera: Phataginus, Smutsia (both in Africa), and Manis (the 4 Asian species). To indicate the creature's strange appearance Carl Linnaeus invented the name Manis in 1758 as a feminine singular form of the Latin masculine plural Manes, chthonic deities sometimes thought to represent souls of deceased loved ones. (According to St. Augustine, "the souls of men are demons, and ... men become Lares if they are good, Lemures or Larvae if they are bad, and Manes if it is uncertain whether they deserve well or ill.")
ReplyDeleteThank you for the apt illustration and explanatory note , dear Duane Vorhees!
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