pangolin

noun

pan·go·lin ˈpaŋ-gə-lən

ˈpan-

: any of a family (Manidae of the order Pholidota) of Asian and African toothless mammals having the body covered dorsally with large imbricated horny scales

called also scaly anteater

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web The Prague Zoo received Tang and a male pangolin named Guo Bao from its sister city, Taipei. —

Anna Lazarus Caplan, Peoplemag, 24 Feb. 2023 The two animals are the parents of the first pangolin born in captivity in Europe. —

Anna Lazarus Caplan, Peoplemag, 24 Feb. 2023 Most people have never heard of or seen a pangolin before COVID-19. —

Allison Futterman, Discover Magazine, 18 Oct. 2021 However, even after this move, pharmaceutical companies and online platforms continued to advertise and sell pangolin products. —

Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 20 July 2022 Maybe a human did start the pandemic, not a wild bat or a caged pangolin. —

Annie Lowrey, The Atlantic, 15 Sep. 2020 The pangolin, for example, evolved scales made of keratin all over its body — the scales clock in at up to a third of the mammal's body mass. —

Gemma Tarlach, Discover Magazine, 10 Jan. 2017 Traditional texts might have recommended the use of scales from Chinese pangolin species in some cases. —

Joshua Rapp Learn, Discover Magazine, 14 July 2021 Research assistant Hsuan-yi Lo monitors a three-month-old Chinese pangolin at the Taipei Zoo. —

Steven Bedard, Discover Magazine, 25 Aug. 2016 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pangolin.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.