As you might be aware I have big feelings about all besnouted creatures, but recently something has been grating on me. Sometimes, when people draw a snout animal, they draw the snout as a nose with the mouth as a separate entity underneath. This is a stylistic choice I greatly dislike because a snout or trunk is, by definition
A COMBINATION OF THE NOSE AND UPPER-LIP.
You can see here that the snout is not a separate entity from the mouth in these mammals, but is a fleshy protuberance emanating from the upper jaw.
You can see in this illustration how a more anatomically accurate snout position gives an anthropomorphic pig a degree of charm that an inaccurate snout position does not.
Snout positioning can make or break a character design for me.
An ambassador #aardvark at the #omahazoo digs into a small planted area while zoo guests watch. Harness training allows zoo animals to get valuable #environmentalenrichment and #exercise by exploring zoo grounds with their handlers, while visitors get to observe natural behaviors like digging prowess of an aardvark up close. #zooanimals #harnesstraining #enrichment (at Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium) https://www.instagram.com/p/BrV5v4WB4H1/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1pr2aql8xekbl
This is Willy the aardvark who likes to pretend he is a turtle. The zookeepers at Brookesfield have to bring him outside everyday and watch him pretend to be a turtle so he doesn’t dig out of the enclosure and seek out other turtles (at least that’s what I assume he’d do)
Aardvarks (Africa) have wide, spoon-like claws on all four feet. Eating almost exclusively ants and termites, they are masterful diggers as they need several thousand insects to sustain themselves each night.
Starting things off with September - the Aardvark.
These nocturnal creatures are native to Africa. Their name, which comes from Afrikaans (erdvark) means “earth pig,” due to their hog-like snout. They don’t fare well in extreme heat, so they remain in their burrows until they can hunt in cooler night temperatures; feeding on ants and termites.
