Teeth & Tubes

I can't blame myself if the word Tubulidentata crossed my mind this morning after taking a quick bath (brushing my teeth, too). It sounds like tubules + dentin, yes yes? I thought of "teeth tubules" the first time I heard the Order Tubulidentata from our Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy class, yes, I know I'm weird. According to some write-ups, it was classified as a member of the Order Xenarthra (or Pholidota by some), but it was separated due to its unique habits, appearance and diet. Another reason is that it is an ungulate (hoofed animal). So here's a quick taxonomy of the Order Tubulidentata.

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Infraclass: Eutheria
Superorder: Afrotheria
Order: Tubulidentata

Aardvark, a medium-sized, burrowing, nocturnal mammal native in Africa, is the only living species of this order. It is sometimes called anteater, antbear or Cape anteater.

Family: Orycteropodidae
Genus: Orycteropus
Species: O. afer