Pangolin, << pang GOH luhn, >> is the name of several species of animals that resemble anteaters and armadillos. Pangolins live in southeastern Asia, Indonesia, and parts of Africa south of the Sahara. Like anteaters, pangolins are toothless and have long, narrow snouts, long tails, and sticky, ropelike tongues that they can thrust far out to catch the ants on which they feed. Pangolins have coats of mail formed by overlapping horny scales, instead of the coarse hair of anteaters. These scales are various shades of brown.
Pangolins vary in length from 3 to 5 feet (0.9 to 1.5 meters), depending on the species. The long-tailed pangolin of western Africa lives in trees. Its tail is about two-thirds of its total length. All pangolins have large, strong claws on their forefeet, which they use to rip open the nests of ants and termites. They are shy, solitary animals that search for food at night.
Pangolins can roll themselves into tight balls so heavily armored that few enemies can harm them. They are inoffensive animals, but when captured they may lash out with their scaled tails. 
The pangolin is prized for its meat and the supposed medicinal properties of its scales and blood. Pangolins are widely hunted to supply a thriving, yet illegal, trade. Overhunting and deforestation, which shrinks their natural habitat, has put the pangolin at great risk for extinction (dying out completely).
