Editing Ground pangolin (section)

== Behavior and social organization ==
Little is known about the pangolin, as it is difficult to study in the wild. Pangolins are solitary animals and only interact for mating. They dig and live in deep burrows made of semispherical chambers. These burrows are large enough for humans to crawl into and stand up. Although it is capable of digging its own burrow, the ground pangolin prefers to occupy those abandoned by [[warthogs]] or [[aardvarks]] or to lie in dense vegetation, making it even more difficult to observe. African pangolins such as the ground pangolin prefer burrows, while Asian pangolins sleep in hollows and forks of trees and logs. They are [[nocturnal]] animals. They mark their territory with urine, secretions, and by scattering their feces. When threatened, their defense mechanism is to curl into a ball with their scales outward, hiss and puff, and lash out with their sharp-edged tails.<ref name="WIAP"/> The scales on the tails are capable of a cutting action to inflict serious wounds.<ref name="awf"/> Pangolins are also capable of emitting noxious acid from glands near the anus, similar to a skunk, to ward off predators.<ref name="guy">Guy Kelly, [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/wildlife/11374800/Pangolins-13-facts-about-the-worlds-most-hunted-animal.html "Pangolins: 13 facts about the world's most hunted animal"]</ref> The ground pangolin's main predators are leopards, hyenas, and humans.<ref name="awf"/> Pangolins roll in herbivore dung.<ref name="Pietersen2020">{{cite book |last1=Pietersen |first1=Darren W. |last2=Jansen |first2=Raymond |last3=Swart |first3=Jonathan |last4=Panaino |first4=Wendy |last5=Kotze |first5=Antoinette |last6=Rankin |first6=Paul |last7=Nebe |first7=Bruno |year=2019 |title=Pangolins: Science, Society and Conservation |chapter=Temminck's pangolin Smutsia temminckii |editor=Challender, D. W. |editor2=Nash, H. C. |editor3=Waterman, C. |publisher=Academic Press |pages=187 (175–193) |doi=10.1016/B978-0-12-815507-3.00011-3 |isbn=9780128155073 |s2cid=213602166}}</ref> Young pangolins ride on the base of their mothers' tails and slip under the mother when she curls up for protection.