Organisms

Pangolins

Solitary, chiefly burrowing and nocturnal mammals of the order Pholidota. They have bodies, tails and heads encased in sharp scales, which protect them when rolled up into a ball when threatened. Also called scaly anteaters, pangolins are myrmecophagous mainly eating ants and termites and are distributed in the warmer parts of the Asia and the Africa continents. Chinese pangolins are a potential intermediate DISEASE RESERVOIR of COVID-19 virus, SARS-CoV-2.

National Library of MedicineMedical Subject Headings2026

Structured Summary

Abstract

Solitary, chiefly burrowing and nocturnal mammals of the order Pholidota. They have bodies, tails and heads encased in sharp scales, which protect them when rolled up into a ball when threatened. Also called scaly anteaters, pangolins are myrmecophagous mainly eating ants and termites and are distributed in the warmer parts of the Asia and the Africa continents. Chinese pangolins are a potential intermediate DISEASE RESERVOIR of COVID-19 virus, SARS-CoV-2.

MeSH Record

Classification

Broader headings

Related Concepts

Knowledge Graph

Loading graph…

Drag nodes to rearrange; hover to trace links; click a node to open its page.

MeSH Record

Synonyms

12 entry terms
  • Pholidota
  • Pangolin
  • Chinese Pangolin
  • Manidae
  • Manis
  • Manis pentadactyla
  • Phataginus
  • Scaly Anteaters
  • Smutsia
  • Chinese Pangolins
  • Pangolin, Chinese
  • Scaly Anteater

MeSH Record

Aspects Covered

18 allowable subheadings

Indexed with the subheadings abnormalities, anatomy & histology, blood, cerebrospinal fluid, classification, embryology, genetics, growth & development, immunology, injuries, metabolism, microbiology, parasitology, physiology, psychology, surgery, urine, virology.

MeSH Record

Indexing Annotation

do not confuse entry term SCALY ANTEATERS with ANTEATERS see VERMILINGUA

MeSH Record

History Note

2021

MeSH Hierarchy

Tree Number

AMA Style

References

  1. National Library of Medicine. Pangolins. Medical Subject Headings (MeSH). 2026. Unique ID D000086642. http://id.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/2026/D000086642
  2. Pangolins. In: Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pangolin
  3. Pangolins. In: Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2191516