The Ant and the Aardvark a variety of names as sly terms of endearment (Ol' Sam, Ol' Ben, Ol' Blue, Claude, Pal, Buddy, Daddy-O). In several bumper sequences of "The Pink Panther Show", he is called "Blue Aardvark." "The Ant and the Aardvark" series was originally released by United Artists. Seventeen theatrical shorts were produced in the original series, and were subsequently featured in various television syndication packages, usually shown with DFE's other characters such as the Pink Panther and The Inspector. Most of the 17 entries appear in their television syndication form (complete with an audible laugh track added by NBC-TV) on the video
Aardvark achieved an aardvark-like appearance and ecological niche through convergent evolution. The aardvark has seventeen poorly defined subspecies listed: The 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica also mentions "O. a. capensis" or Cape ant-bear from South Africa. The aardvark is vaguely pig-like in appearance. Its body is stout with a prominently arched back and is sparsely covered with coarse hairs. The limbs are of moderate length, with the rear legs being longer than the forelegs. The front feet have lost the pollex (or 'thumb'), resulting in four toes, while the rear feet have all five toes. Each toe bears a large, robust nail which