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The animal on the cover of Web Scraping with Python is a ground pangolin (Smutsia temminckii). The pangolin is a solitary, nocturnal mammal and closely related to armadillos, sloths, and anteaters. They can be found in southern and eastern Africa. There are three other species of pangolins in Africa and all are considered to be critically endangered.

Full-grown ground pangolins can average 12–39 inches in length and weigh from a mere 3.5–73 pounds. They resemble armadillos, covered in protective scales that are either dark, light brown, or olive in color. Immature pangolin scales are more pink. When pangolins are threatened, their scales on the tails can act more like an offensive weapon, as they are able to cut and wound attackers. Pangolins also have a defense strategy similar to skunks, in which they secrete a foul-smelling acid from glands located close to the anus. This serves as a warning to potential attackers, but also helps the pangolin mark territory. The underside of the pangolin is not covered in scales, but instead with little bits of fur.

Like those of their anteater relatives, pangolin diets consist of ants and termites. Their incredibly long tongues allow them to scavenge logs and anthills for their meals. The tongue is longer than their body and retracts into their chest cavity while at rest.

Though they are solitary animals, once matured, the ground pangolin lives in large burrows that run deep underground. In many cases, the burrows once belonged to aardvarks and warthogs, and the pangolin has simply taken over the abandoned residence. With the three, long, curved claws found on their forefeet, however, pangolins don’t have a problem digging their own burrows if necessary.

Many of the animals on O’Reilly covers are endangered; all of them are important to the world. To learn more about how you can help, go to animals.oreilly.com.

The cover image is from Lydekker’s Royal Natural History. The cover fonts are URW Typewriter and Guardian Sans. The text font is Adobe Minion Pro; the heading font is Adobe Myriad Condensed; and the code font is Dalton Maag’s Ubuntu Mono.