Elephant shrews
Short-eared Elephant Shrew (Macroscelides proboscideus)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Infraclass: Eutheria Superorder: Afrotheria Order: Macroscelidea Butler, 1956 Family: Macroscelididae Bonaparte, 1838
Genera
Rhynchocyon Petrodromus Macroscelides Elephantulus Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1400x933, 472 KB) File links The following pages link to this file: Elephant shrew ... Scientific classification or biological classification is a method by which biologists group and categorize species of organisms. ... Animalia redirects here. ... Typical Classes See below Chordates (phylum Chordata) are a group of animals that includes the vertebrates, together with several closely related invertebrates. ... Subclasses Subclass Allotheria* Order Docodonta (extinct) Order Multituberculata (extinct) Order Palaeoryctoides (extinct) Order Triconodonta (extinct) Order Volaticotheria (extinct) Subclass Prototheria Order Monotremata Subclass Theria Infraclass Trituberculata (extinct) Infraclass Metatheria Infraclass Eutheria The mammals are the class of vertebrate animals characterized by the production of milk in females for the nourishment... Eutheria is a taxon (specifically, an infraclass) nearly synonymous with Placentalia, containing the placental mammals and the nearest ancestors of placental mammals (which are known only from the fossil record). ... Afrotheria are a clade of mammals with the rank of cohort, that has been proposed based on DNA analysis. ... 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Charles Lucien Jules Laurent Bonaparte (May 24, 1803 _ July 29, 1857) was a French naturalist and ornithologist. ... | Jöns Jakob Berzelius, discoverer of protein 1838 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ...

The small insectivorous mammals native to Africa known as elephant shrews or jumping shrews belong to the Macroscelididae family, in the order Macroscelidea. Their traditional common English name comes from a fancied resemblance between their long noses and the trunk of an elephant, and an assumed relationship with the true shrews (family Soricidae) in the order Insectivora. As it has become plain that the elephant shrews are unrelated to the shrews, some people prefer to call them sengis, a term derived from the Bantu languages of Africa. Any organism with a diet that consists chiefly of insects and similar small creatures is an insectivore. ... Subclasses Subclass Allotheria* Order Docodonta (extinct) Order Multituberculata (extinct) Order Palaeoryctoides (extinct) Order Triconodonta (extinct) Order Volaticotheria (extinct) Subclass Prototheria Order Monotremata Subclass Theria Infraclass Trituberculata (extinct) Infraclass Metatheria Infraclass Eutheria The mammals are the class of vertebrate animals characterized by the production of milk in females for the nourishment... A world map showing the continent of Africa Africa is the worlds second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. ... In scientific classification used in biology, the order (Latin: ordo, plural ordines) is a rank between class and family (termed a taxon at that rank). ... Genera and Species Loxodonta Loxodonta cyclotis Loxodonta africana Elephas Elephas maximus Elephas antiquus † Elephas beyeri † Elephas celebensis † Elephas cypriotes † Elephas ekorensis † Elephas falconeri † Elephas iolensis † Elephas planifrons † Elephas platycephalus † Elephas recki † Stegodon † Mammuthus † Elephantidae (the elephants) is a family of pachyderm, and the only remaining family in the order Proboscidea... It has been suggested that Echolocating shrew be merged into this article or section. ... Families Erinaceidae Soricidae Talpidae Solenodontidae The biological order Insectivora in the past was used as a scrapbasket for a variety of small to very small, relatively unspecialized, insectivorous mammals. ... Map showing the approximate distribution of Bantu (dull yellow) vs. ...

An elephant shrew from Frankfurt Zoo.

The 15 species vary in size from about 100 mm to almost 300 mm, from just under 50 g to over 500 g. The short-eared Elephant Shrew, shown above, has an average size of 150 mm. All are quadrupedal with rather long legs for their size, and although the size of the trunk varies from one species to another, all are able to twist it about in search of food. Their life span is about 2 or 3 years. Their diet is largely insects and other small creatures, particularly beetles, spiders, worms, ants, and termites, mostly gleaned from leaf litter, but they also take seeds and some green shoots. The Rhynchocyon species also dig small conical holes in the soil, bandicoot style. Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... Families and Genera Chaeropodidae Chaeropus Peramelidae Isoodon Perameles Peroryctes Echymipera Microperoryctes Rhynchomeles A bandicoot is any of about 20 species of small to medium-sized, terrestrial marsupial omnivores in the order Peramelemorphia. ...

They are widely distributed across the southern part of Africa, and although common nowhere, can be found in almost any type of habitat, from the Namib Desert to boulder-strewn outcrops in South Africa to thick forest. One species, the North African Elephant Shrew, remains in the semi-arid, mountainous country in the far north-west of the continent. Dune 7, one of the highest sand dunes in the world (ca. ...

Although mostly diurnal and very active, they are difficult to trap and very seldom seen: sengis are wary, well camouflaged, and adept at dashing away from threats. Several species make a series of cleared pathways through the undergrowth and spend their day patrolling them for insect life: if disturbed, the pathway provides an obstacle-free escape route.

The evolutionary history of the sengis has long been obscure. At various stages, they have been classified with the shrews and hedgehogs as part of the Insectivora; regarded as distant relatives of the ungulates; grouped with the treeshrews; and lumped in with the hares and rabbits in Lagomorpha. Recent molecular evidence, however, weakly supports a superorder Afrotheria which unites tenrecs, and golden moles with certain ungulates or mammals that have been presumed to be ungulates, including hyraxes, sirenians, aardvarks and elephants. Genera Atelerix Erinaceus Hemiechinus Mesechinus Paraechinus A hedgehog is any of the small spiny mammals of the subfamily Erinaceinae and the order Erinaceomorpha. ... Families Erinaceidae Soricidae Talpidae Solenodontidae The biological order Insectivora in the past was used as a scrapbasket for a variety of small to very small, relatively unspecialized, insectivorous mammals. ... Llamas such as this, which have two toes, are artiodactylas -- even toed ungulates Ungulates (meaning roughly hoofed or hoofed animal) make up several orders of mammals, of which six to eight survive. ... Families Tupaiidae Ptilocercidae The treeshrews are small mammals native to the tropical forests of Southeast Asia. ... Families The Lagomorphs, order Lagomorpha, are an order of mammals of which there are two families, Leporidae (hares and rabbits), and Ochotonidae (pikas). ... Afrotheria are a clade of mammals with the rank of cohort, that has been proposed based on DNA analysis. ... Subfamilies  Oryzorictinae  Potamogalinae  Tenrecinae Tenrecidae (common name tenrecs) is a family of mammals found on Madagascar and parts of western Africa. ... Genera  Eremitalpa  Chrysospalax  Chrysochloris  Cryptochloris  Carpitalpa  Chlorotalpa  Calcochloris  Amblysomus  Neamblysomus Golden moles are small, insectivorous burrowing mammals native to southern Africa. ... Genera Procavia Heterohyrax Dendrohyrax A hyrax (from Greek shrewmouse; South African English: klipdassie) is any of four species of fairly small, thickset, herbivorous mammals in the order Hyracoidea. ... Families Dugongidae Trichechidae For information about the Gothic Metal band, see Sirenia (band) Sirenia are herbivorous mammals of coastal waters. ... Binomial name Orycteropus afer (Pallas, 1766) Aardvark range map The Aardvark (Orycteropus afer; sometimes called antbear)[1] is a medium-sized mammal native to Africa. ... Genera and Species Loxodonta Loxodonta cyclotis Loxodonta africana Elephas Elephas maximus Elephas antiquus † Elephas beyeri † Elephas celebensis † Elephas cypriotes † Elephas ekorensis † Elephas falconeri † Elephas iolensis † Elephas planifrons † Elephas platycephalus † Elephas recki † Stegodon † Mammuthus † Elephantidae (the elephants) is a family of pachyderm, and the only remaining family in the order Proboscidea...

However this arrangement is not supported by good anatomical evidence and although the relationship of the golden moles to tenrecs is quite likely and the relationship between hyraxes, sirenians and elephants is also well accepted, anatomically these two groups of mammals are different from one another and evidence suggests that the odd-toed ungulates are related to the African ungulates. Although the dentition of elephant shrews suggests that they might be ungulates their overall morphology has similaritites to the gnawing mammals.

• ORDER MACROSCELIDEA
  • Family Macroscelididae
    • Genus Elephantulus
      • Short-snouted Elephant Shrew, Elephantulus brachyrhynchus
      • Cape Elephant Shrew, Elephantulus edwardii
      • Dusky-footed Elephant Shrew, Elephantulus fuscipes
      • Dusky Elephant Shrew, Elephantulus fuscus
      • Bushveld Elephant Shrew, Elephantulus intufi
      • Eastern Rock Elephant Shrew, Elephantulus myurus
      • Somali Elephant Shrew, Elephantulus revoili, endangered (EN)
      • North African Elephant Shrew, Elephantulus rozeti
      • Rufous Elephant Shrew, Elephantulus rufescens
      • Western Rock Elephant Shrew, Elephantulus rupestris
    • Genus Macroscelides
      • Short-eared Elephant Shrew, Macroscelides proboscideus
    • Genus Petrodromus
      • Four-toed Elephant Shrew, Petrodromus tetradactylus
    • Genus Rhynchocyon
      • Golden-rumped Elephant Shrew, Rhynchocyon chrysopygus, endangered (EN)
      • Checkered Elephant Shrew, Rhynchocyon cirnei, vulnerable (VU)
      • Black and Rufous Elephant Shrew, Rhynchocyon petersi, endangered (EN)

Binomial name Rhynchocyon chrysopygus (Günther, 1881) The Golden-rumped Elephant Shrew, Rhynchocyon chrysopygus, is the largest of all the unique African family, the elephant shrews. ...

External links

• Elephant Shrew: Wildlife summary from the African Wildlife & Reptiles Foundation

References

• Schlitter, Duane A. (November 16, 2005). in Wilson, D. E., and Reeder, D. M. (eds): Mammal Species of the World, 3rd edition, Johns Hopkins University Press, 82-85. ISBN 0-801-88221-4.