Dawn Abrams, age 11, of Nogales, Ariz., for her question:

WHERE DOES THE PANGOLIN LIVE?

The Pangolins are the only members of the order Pholidota. Although they look much like both the anteater and the armadillo, the pangolins are in a class of their own. You'll find them living wild in southeastern Asia, Indonesia and parts of Africa south of the Sahara.

Like the American anteaters, the pangolins are toothless. They have long, narrow snouts, long tails and sticky, ropelike tongues that can be thrust far out to catch the ants on which they feed.

Pangolins have coats of mail formed by overlapping horny scales, instead of coarse hair of the American anteaters. The scales are various shades of brown. They can roll themselves into tight balls so heavily armored that few enemies can harm them.

Pangolins vary in length from three to five feet, depending on the species. The black bellied pangolin of West Africa lives in trees. Its long tail is about two thirds of its total length.

All pangolins have large, strong claws on their forefeet, which they use to rip open the nests of ants and termites.