[15] Pangolins have large, protective keratin scales, similar in material to fingernails and toenails, covering their skin; they are the only known mammals with this feature.

Pangolins are threatened by poaching (for their meat and scales, which are used in traditional medicine[16][17]) and heavy deforestation of their natural habitats, and are the most trafficked mammals in the world.

Three (Manis culionensis, M. pentadactyla and M. javanica) are critically endangered, three (Phataginus tricuspis, Manis crassicaudata and Smutsia gigantea) are endangered and two (Phataginus tetradactyla and Smutsia temminckii) are vulnerable on the Red List of Threatened Species of the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

It can curl up into a ball when threatened, with its overlapping scales acting as armor, while it protects its face by tucking it under its tail.

[32] Arboreal pangolins live in hollow trees, whereas the ground-dwelling species dig tunnels to a depth of 3.5 m (11 ft).

Their saliva is sticky,[37] causing ants and termites to stick to their long tongues when they are hunting through insect tunnels.

Without teeth, pangolins cannot also chew;[39] but while foraging, they ingest small stones (gastroliths), which accumulate in their stomachs to help to grind up ants.

During the vulnerable stage, the mother stays with her offspring in the burrow, nursing it, and wraps her body around it if she senses danger.

Weaning takes place around three months of age, when the young begin to eat insects in addition to nursing.

[46] The order Pholidota was long considered to be the sister taxon to Xenarthra (neotropical anteaters, sloths, and armadillos), but recent genetic evidence indicates their closest living relatives are the carnivorans, with which they form a clade, the Ferae.

[52] Moreover, the basal position of Manis within Pholidota[50][54] suggests the group originated in Eurasia, consistent with their laurasiatherian phylogeny.

[66] In November 2010, pangolins were added to the Zoological Society of London's list of evolutionarily distinct and endangered mammals.

[19] All pangolin species are currently listed under Appendix I of CITES which prohibits international trade, except when the product is intended for non-commercial purposes and a permit has been granted.

[70] Though pangolins are protected by an international ban on their trade, populations have suffered from illegal trafficking due to beliefs in East Asia that their ground-up scales can stimulate lactation or cure cancer or asthma.

[72][73][74][75] In one such incident in April 2013, 10,000 kg (22,000 pounds) of pangolin meat were seized from a Chinese vessel that ran aground in the Philippines.

[76][77] In another case in August 2016, an Indonesian man was arrested after police raided his home and found over 650 pangolins in freezers on his property.

[79] The overexploitation comes from hunting pangolins for game meat and the reduction of their forest habitats due to deforestation caused by timber harvesting.

[81][82] Researchers in Guangzhou, China, hypothesized that SARS-CoV-2 had originated in bats, and prior to infecting humans, was circulating among pangolins.

[84][85] Ecologists worried that the early speculation about pangolins being the source may have led to mass slaughters, endangering them further, which was similar to what happened to Asian palm civets during the SARS outbreak.

[95] During the Tang dynasty, a recipe for expelling evil spirits with a formulation of scales, herbs, and minerals appeared in 682, and in 752 CE the idea that pangolin scales could also stimulate milk secretion in lactating women, one of the main uses today, was recommended in the Wai Tai Mi Yao ("Arcane Essentials from the Imperial Library").

[89] The official pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China included Chinese pangolin scales as an ingredient in TCM formulations.

In some parts of India and Nepal, locals believe that wearing the scales of a pangolin can help prevent pneumonia.

Indigenous people in southern Palawan, Philippines, have held the belief that elders could avoid prostate illnesses by wearing belts made with the scales.

This action plan aims to improve all aspects of pangolin conservation with an added emphasis on combating poaching and trafficking of the animal while educating communities on its importance.

[62] In 2018, a Chinese NGO launched the Counting Pangolins movement, calling for joint efforts to save the mammals from trafficking.

[101][102][103] Wildlife conservation group TRAFFIC has identified 159 smuggling routes used by pangolin traffickers and aims to shut these down.

[45][105] Pangolins have significantly decreased immune responses due to a genetic dysfunction, making them extremely fragile.