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Meerkat Paws, South Africa, 2002

A close-up of meerkat in the Kalahari Desert shows its sturdy, rakelike claws, an important adaptation for their tunneling lifestyle. Meerkats are master excavators, frequently digging themselves entirely out of sight in pursuit of potential meals, which include beetles, scorpions, insect larvae, and small reptiles.

(Text adapted from and photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Meerkats Stand Tall," September 2002, National Geographic magazine)

Photograph by Mattias Klum