MammalBase - Accepted taxon: Proteles cristata

Accepted taxon: Proteles cristata
Taxon:	Proteles cristata
Rank:	Species
Higher Classification:	CARNIVORA \| FELIFORMIA \| Hyaenidae \| Proteles
Reference:	Wilson, Don E., and DeeAnn M. Reeder, eds. Mammal Species of the World. A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed), JHU Press, 2005.

Fig.1 - Ternary plot of the proximate analysis for the Proteles cristata diet.
CF (Crude Fibre) 5, ASH (Ash contents) 4, NFE (Nitrogen-Free-Extract) 32, CP (Crude Protein) 34, EE (Ether Extract) 26. See details for the calculations in Lintulaakso, K., Tatti, N. and Žliobaitė, I., 2022. Quantifying mammalian diets. Mammalian Biology, pp.1-15. [DOI]

Table 1. List of Diet Items for Proteles cristata.
TSN Complete name	Part	Ratio ^a.	Reference(s)
Termitidae	WHOLE	29.82	De Vries,…
Nasutitermitinae	WHOLE	21.05	Grzimek,B…
Solifugae	WHOLE	7.02	De Vries,…
Isoptera	WHOLE	7.02	Damuth, J…
Araneae	WHOLE	5.61	Damuth, J…
Insecta	LARVAE	5.61	Nowak,R. …
Hodotermitidae	WHOLE	5.26	Grzimek,B…
Coleoptera	WHOLE	4.21	Damuth, J…
Silphidae	WHOLE	4.21	Nowak,R. …
Lepidoptera	WHOLE	2.81	Damuth, J…
Brachycera	LARVAE	2.81	Nowak,R. …
Scorpionidae	WHOLE	1.75	De Vries,…
Insecta	WHOLE	1.40	Nowak,R. …
Formicidae	WHOLE	1.40	Damuth, J…

^a. Standardized values. See details for the calculations in Lintulaakso, K., Tatti, N. and Žliobaitė, I., 2022. Quantifying mammalian diets. Mammalian Biology, pp.1-15. [DOI]

Table 2. List of Standard Traits for Proteles cristata.
Trait	Selected Value	All Value(s)	Reference(s)
Dietary category: Eisenberg 1981	Insectivore	Insectivore	– Brian K. McNab, 1986, 'The Influence of Food Habits on the Energetics of Eutherian Mammals', Ecological Monographs, vol. 56, no. 1, p. 1, John L. Gittleman, 1985, 'Carnivore body size: Ecological and taxonomic correlates', Oecologia, vol. 67, no. 4, pp. 540-554
Dietary category: Miljutin 2009	Animalivore	Animalivore	– Brian K. McNab, 1986, 'The Influence of Food Habits on the Energetics of Eutherian Mammals', Ecological Monographs, vol. 56, no. 1, p. 1, John L. Gittleman, 1985, 'Carnivore body size: Ecological and taxonomic correlates', Oecologia, vol. 67, no. 4, pp. 540-554
Temporal habits	nocturnal	nocturnal	– John L. Gittleman, 1985, 'Carnivore body size: Ecological and taxonomic correlates', Oecologia, vol. 67, no. 4, pp. 540-554
Locomotion: Eisenberg 1981	Terrestrial	Terrestrial	– John L. Gittleman, 1985, 'Carnivore body size: Ecological and taxonomic correlates', Oecologia, vol. 67, no. 4, pp. 540-554

Table 3. List of Standard Measurements for Proteles cristata.
Measurement	Location	Unit	n Total	n Unknown	n Female	n Male	Min	Mean	Max	SD	Reference(s)
Body Mass (BM)	nan	g	4	4	-	-	-	6,690.49	-	-	Engelman,…
Body Mass (BM)	nan	g	4	4	-	-	-	6,690.49	-	-	Engelman,…

Table 4. List of other Measurements ^b. for Proteles cristata.
Measurement	Location	Unit	n Total	n Unknown	n Female	n Male	Min	Mean	Max	SD	Reference(s)

^b. other Measurements. Source Measurements which are not listed on or mapped with the Standard Traits..

Table 5. List of Data Sources for Proteles cristata.
Taxon	Reference	Match	Status
Proteles cristata	McNab,B. K., 1986, The influence of food habits on the energetics of eutherian mammals, Ecological Monographs	1: Exact Taxon match	Verified - Accepted
Proteles cristatus	Gittleman,J. L., 1985, Carnivore body size: ecological and taxonomic correlates, Oecologia	51: Name variant or misspelling of the taxon	Verified - Accepted
Proteles cristatus	Damuth, J. 2010. ABSOLUT 6 a mammalian database compiled by the national center for ecological analysis and synthesis (NCEAS ) workshop on mammalian communities.	51: Name variant or misspelling of the taxon	Verified - Accepted
Proteles cristata	De Vries,JL, 2011, Extension of the diet of an extreme foraging specialist, the aardwolf (Proteles cristata), African Zoology	1: Exact Taxon match	Verified - Accepted
Proteles cristatus	Nowak,R. M., 1991, Walker's mammals of the world,	51: Name variant or misspelling of the taxon	Verified - Accepted
Proteles cristatus	Grzimek,B., 2003, Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia: Mammals I-V,	51: Name variant or misspelling of the taxon	Verified - Accepted
Proteles cristatus	Nowak,R. M., 1991, Walker's mammals of the world,	51: Name variant or misspelling of the taxon	Verified - Accepted
Proteles cristata	Law, C.J., Blackwell, E.A., Curtis, A.A., Dickinson, E., Hartstone‐Rose, A. and Santana, S.E., 2022. Decoupled evolution of the cranium and mandible in carnivoran mammals. Evolution.	1: Exact Taxon match	Verified - Accepted
Proteles cristata	Herberstein, M.E., McLean, D.J., Lowe, E., Wolff, J.O., Khan, M.K., Smith, K., Allen, A.P., Bulbert, M., Buzatto, B.A., Eldridge, M.D. and Falster, D., 2022. AnimalTraits-a curated animal trait database for body mass, metabolic rate and brain size. Scientific Data, 9(1), p.265.	1: Exact Taxon match	Verified - Accepted
Proteles cristata	Engelman, R.K., 2022. Occipital condyle width (OCW) is a highly accurate predictor of body mass in therian mammals. BMC biology, 20(1), p.37.	1: Exact Taxon match	Verified - Accepted
Proteles cristata	Rowan, J., Beaudrot, L., Franklin, J., Reed, K.E., Smail, I.E., Zamora, A. and Kamilar, J.M., 2020. Geographically divergent evolutionary and ecological legacies shape mammal biodiversity in the global tropics and subtropics. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(3), pp.1559-1565.	1: Exact Taxon match	Verified - Accepted

Citation for this page: [The MammalBase community 2026. / CC BY 4.0. http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7462864 Proteles cristata , Accessed 16th April 2026 at https://mammalbase.net/me/14404]