Pangolins, often called scaly anteaters, are unique mammals in Asia and Africa. They might look like reptiles, with overlapping scales made of keratin, a protein found in human fingernails and hair, but they are mammals and not closely related to anteaters. The scales cover most of their bodies, offering essential protection against predators.
Behaviour and Habitat
Pangolins are shy and elusive, making them difficult to spot in the wild. Most species are nocturnal, except the long-tailed pangolin, which is also called the African black-bellied pangolin or ipi. All the species are endangered and the most trafficked mammals globally. They face threats from poaching for their meat and scales, which are often used in traditional medicine.
Conservation Efforts
The documentary Pangolin: Kulu’s Journey, released on Netflix in April 2025. is a film by the director of My Octopus Teacher. This documentary offers s a great way to celebrate and highlight the problems facing these remarkable ancient animals and show how they have inspired innovative ideas. These prehistoric-looking creatures have been around for 80 million years.
Director Pippa Erlich described the film as a story of “love, trust, and understanding” — hoping it would help viewers see the beauty in an animal that remains, sadly, the world’s most trafficked wild mammal.
Unique Adaptations
Pangolins lack teeth, relying on their long, muscular, and sticky tongues to suck up ants and termites. They can roll into a tight ball to protect their soft underparts when threatened. The Pokémon Sandshrew is often said to be partly modelled on a pangolin.
Pangolins’ scales are incredibly durable due to their anti-adhesive and anti-friction qualities, which allow them to travel smoothly through rock and dirt. This has inspired the innovation of the electrosurgical blade with anti-adhesive surface microstructures that separate cleanly from the tissue it’s cutting through.
The overlapping scales protect the mammal and create a structure that is hard to puncture and absorbs the force of an attack. Other applications of the pangolin’s unique approach to self-protection could include anything from more durable sofa cushions to buildings and bridges that not only withstand storms better but also repair themselves when damaged.
I hope this article inspired you to look more closely at this remarkable animal and helped raise awareness of the importance of protecting it from poachers. The pangolin might even help you solve problems or spark ideas!
A double backpack with overlapping scales is one idea sparked by this fascinating animal. Also, a 2019 peer-reviewed study built anti-adhesive surgical blades using laser-etched microstructures modelled on pangolin scale ridges, successfully reducing tissue adhesion and friction.
Biomimicry looks to nature for solutions — which means it depends on us preserving and caring for the very creatures that hold them.
Photo: By U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Headquarters – Manis temminckii, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=56589227
Frequently Asked Questions
What is biomimicry?
Biomimicry is the practice of looking to nature for solutions, then applying what we learn to design and problem-solving. Instead of inventing from scratch, it means studying how plants, animals, and ecosystems have already solved a challenge — like staying cool, collecting water, or absorbing carbon — and adapting that strategy for human use.
How does biomimicry help address climate change?
Nature has been adapting to extreme conditions for billions of years, so many organisms already hold working solutions to problems we now face at a larger scale — cooling buildings without electricity (termite mounds), collecting water in drought (the Namib beetle), protecting coastlines from storms (mangrove roots), and capturing carbon (corals, forests, kelp). Biomimicry means studying those solutions and applying the same principles to human design.
How can children get involved in biomimicry?
Children don’t need special training to think like a biomimicrist — just curiosity and a habit of asking “how does nature solve this?” Simple ways to start include a backyard scavenger hunt for nature’s patterns, a “design-an-animal” challenge for a changing climate, or building a small model (like a passive-cooling structure or a water collector) inspired by something they’ve observed outdoors.
Is biomimicry only for scientists and engineers?
No — biomimicry is as much a mindset as a profession. Anyone can practice it by observing nature closely and asking design questions. Professional biomimicry practitioners apply it in architecture, materials science, and engineering, but the same core skill — careful observation followed by “what if we built it that way?” — is exactly what this post’s classroom and family activities are designed to build in children.
Åsa Jomård
In 2015, Åsa completed a course in Biomimicry: A Sustainable Design Methodology at Minneapolis College of Art and Design. With over 10 years of experience exploring nature for inspiration and as a former member of Ben, Biomimicry Education Network, she brings both academic background and creative teaching experience to her work. Her materials seamlessly integrate stories, nature observations, and design challenges, making them perfect for inquiry-led learning in early primary contexts.
AI was used as a Thinking Partner.