   #copyright

Elephant shrew

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Mammals

                      iElephant shrews
   Short-eared Elephant Shrew(Macroscelides proboscideus)
   Short-eared Elephant Shrew
   (Macroscelides proboscideus)
                 Scientific classification

   Kingdom: Animalia
   Phylum:  Chordata
   Class:   Mammalia
   Order:   Macroscelidea
            Butler, 1956
   Family:  Macroscelididae
            Bonaparte, 1838

                                   Genera

   Rhynchocyon
   Petrodromus
   Macroscelides
   Elephantulus

   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.

   The 15 species vary in size from about 100 mm to almost 300 mm, from
   just under 50 g to over 500 g. 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 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.

   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.

   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.

   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
               o 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
               o Genus Macroscelides
                    # Short-eared Elephant Shrew, Macroscelides
                      proboscideus
               o Genus Petrodromus
                    # Four-toed Elephant Shrew, Petrodromus tetradactylus
               o 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)

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