Animal Wonders of Evolution- 3

Sunda Pangolin

Covered in scales made of keratin, the material from which fingernails are made, pangolins split off from edentates — the order containing sloths, anteaters and armadillos — 60 million years ago. Any features they share with anteaters are the result of convergent evolution, with natural selection and adaptation arriving at similar traits in unrelated animals.
There are seven species of pangolin. One of the rarest is the Sunda pangolin. "When I first saw one, I was in Laos, on a boat. A woman put this bag in the boat. It was quite heavy. She said, I want $5 for it," said Baillie. "They're phenomenal creatures. Magical. Absolutely wonderful."
Image: Animal Concern Research & Education Society