User:Lucas Nicholson/Philippine pangolin draft

LUCAS: Nice work here getting your content developed! Don't forget to add your image. You have also done the required training, which is reflected in your various sandboxes. Nice work, Professor Robinson

The following is a sandbox draft of the content I will be editing to the Philippine pangolin page.

Physical Description
The Philippine pangolin is roughly 30 to 90 cm (12 to 35 inches) long, plus a 26 to 88 cm (10 to 35 inch) tail. It weights 1 to 75 kg (2-77 lbs). Philippine pangolins in captivity can live up to approximately 20 years. It is covered in small triangular scales made of keratin everywhere except the the underbelly and face, making up at least 20% of the body weight. It regrows new scales when they are lost and always has the same number of scales throughout their lifespan. The scales come in shades of brown, yellow and olive, making for adequate camouflage at night. Newer offspring have much softer scales than adults and tend to weight about 90 to 500 g (3-18 oz). Areas of the body without scales are covered in a layer of hair.

The Philippine pangolin has 5 sharp claws per foot and powerful appendages used for digging. However, these claws are not used as weapons for attacking or defending other animals. Pangolins can also run solely on their hind legs for a duration, using their tail for balance. Its tail is prehensile, allowing it to grab onto branches or stand on its hind legs, despite being covered in scales. The tail also aids the species with climbing and standing upright or to be used as a weapon to puncture enemies using its sharp scales.

The Philippine pangolin's tongue can stretch up to 25 cm (10 inches) long and is coated in an adhesive saliva that is helpful for catching insects. Its head is cone shaped with a long snout and no teeth.

Diet
The Philippine pangolin is a myrmecophage, so has a diet consisting mainly of but not limited to termites and ants. It has in incredible sense of smell that it uses to find its food. The Philippine pangolin is seem to have strong preferences when it comes to the insects they eat, selectively consuming a certain species of ant or termite they like, or even actively avoiding certain species when there is enough of a food abundance to be picky. Its forefeet are used to dig into mounds and logs while its tongue harvests insects. The pangolin will only ever eat a portion of a termite or ant colony, leaving most of the mound/hill intact for the colony to regrow and act as a continuous food source for the pangolin later down the line. It consumes sand and small stones to help grind food in their stomachs.

Behavior
The Philippine pangolin is nocturnal and reclusive, tending towards being solitary or in pairs. Because they are mainly active at night, their eyesight is below average. While their hearing is still only about average, they make up for their lack of vision with their extraordinary sense of smell. It generally travels slowly, but can move in a short burst towards safety when it becomes startled, and even has a limited ability to swim. Occasionally, it can be seen standing on its hind legs, balancing on its tail, to help detect nearby predators.

While some of their time is spent on the ground foraging, Philippine pangolins are arboreal, and tend to stay in the tree canopy. When sleeping, they prefer to take refuge inside hollow trees. When threatened, they, like all pangolins, secrete a foul odor and roll into a ball, relying on the protection provided by their scales. Many even sleep rolled up into a ball to protect themselves while they are unaware. They are not known for being territorial animals, but they may be seen leaving their scent to let others know they've taken refuge there for a while.

Reproduction and Nurturing
While little is known about the reproduction of Philippine pangolins, their mating habits are thought to be similar to those of the Sunda pangolin. Like most pangolins, Philippine pangolins mate in the spring. The same odorous secretion used as a self-defense mechanism is also used in mating habits. The secretion is used by males to assert against other males, attract a mate, and are used by the mother while nurturing their young.

The young are born after a gestation period around 18 weeks and are suckled by their mothers about four months. Usually only one offspring is born at once, and they are carried around on the mothers back for a time. When sleeping or threatened, the mother tends to roll in a ball for defense like usual, but with the young cradled in a ball of their own, encompassed in the mother's ball. The the age of about 5 months, young will separate from there mother. Female pangolin even adopt lone young that have lost their own mother.

Hunting and Endangerment
The Philippine pangolin, much like every other species of pangolin, is considered threatened due how sought after they are to hunters. Other than the meat, which is a delicacy in certain Asian cultures, the Philippine Pangolin is hunted for their scales, organs, and skin, which are used in traditional medicine. In 2016, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) had to ban the export of pangolin parts, due to how much illegal exporting influenced pangolin hunting.