Orapod

Introduction

The Orapod (Venenum scala) is 30cm to 100cm insectivore that lives in Asia and Africa, they tend to live in burrows near large colonies of ants in the tropical and flooded forest. There are currently 25,000 Orapods living in the wild. Orapods are part of the Carnivora group. It is easily recognizable by its scales and its long and muscular tail. The orapod has adapted rapidly in the past 100 years. Its blood became poisonous so poachers would no longer hunt it for its meat and its tongue developed a poisonous chemical(pentobarbital) in the saliva to protect itself from all possible predators. It has adapted to shed its scales once every year so poachers would be able to collect scales from the ground rather than killing them for it. After that, it adapted its claws so it could burrow in a very short amount of time. The Orapod’s mortality rate dropped after they were able to start producing at a much higher birth rate. Orapods, which were once call pangolins, were classified as endangered species approximately 100 years ago. The largest threat that the pangolins used to face were poachers, and now since they have adapted, they are no longer considered endangered.

Etymology

The word “Orapod” comes from a San Domenico scholar, meaning scary and poisonous scales. The scientific name, Venum Scala, is derived from the Latin meaning for venemus scales, since they have sharp scales and poisonous blood.

Habitat and Population

Approximately 25,000 wild orapods are living in the man-made rainforests of Asia and Africa. Different from the pangolins, the orapods live alone. This makes finding ant colonies much easier for the orapods, since each orapod has more space to hunt. The reason the orapod population increased rapidly in number in the past 100 years is due to the massively improved life cycle. The orapods can give birth to around five offspring at once, and the mating seasons of the orapods are from spring to summer.

History

Orapods evolved from an ancient species known as the pangolin. The pangolin is an ancient species that traces up to 80 million years ago and they are closely related to the dog and the cat more so than an armadillo, despite their similar appearance.

The adaptation of the poisonous blood and tongue was discovered by a poacher in 2030. When the poacher was hunting for pangolins he saw them in the forest fighting with two lions and killed them both with his tongue. After the pangolin killed the two lions, the poacher killed the pangolin with a knife. The poacher prepared the pangolin and served it to his boss. The moment his boss ate the pangolin, he began to choke and soon died before he could ever reach the hospital.

Its scale shedding adaption was first discovered by two visiting university students. When they were hiking in the rainforest they noticed a large pile of scales that were unfamiliar to them. They spent the rest of the week in Burma and flew back with 1 of the scales in their pocket because they had a sense it would bring them luck. They brought it back to their professor and he conducted lab tests on the scale. Around three weeks later he asked them if he could publish a paper based on his and the students’ findings.

Evolution

Orapods are nocturnal animals and they use their sharp sense of smell to find insects as food. Orapods live underground in the burrows they make. The orapods can make a burrow up to 5 meters deep in a short period of time. The biological adaptations is that the Orapods have longer, stronger and faster claws. The orapod adapted so its blood and tongue became poisonous to protect itself from poachers. It’s now able to shed its scales twice every year so there’s no longer a need for poachers to hunt them for scales since they can easily be collected. To protect themselves from other predators, they have learned how to burrow in a very short amount of time using its strong and sharp claws.

Summary

In the previous century, the pangolin was a species hunted and killed for its scales and meat, causing their population to rapidly decrease. The number of pangolins dropped to a very dangerous level. Miraculously, the pangolin made many adaptations to survive. Nowadays, pangolins are called the Orapods and their population has increased to around 25,000 and they have successfully spread over Asian and African rainforests.

Works Cited

Hays, Jeffrey. “PANGOLINS: CHARACTERISTICS, BEHAVIOR AND THE CHINESE

MEDICINE-FOOD TRADE.” Facts and Details, 2019, http://

factsanddetails.com/asian/cat68/sub433/item2446.html.

Parker , Keri. “About Pangolins.” Save Pangolins, Save Pangolins , 2019, https://

www.savepangolins.org/what-is-a-pangolin.

“Pangolin.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 2 Dec. 2019, https:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pangolin.

“Rollin' With the Pangolin (Manis Temminckii ).” Pangolin - Diet, 2019,

http://bioweb.uwlax.edu/bio203/s2012/grosshue_crai/diet.htm.