The tailless tenrec (Tenrec ecaudatus), also known as the common tenrec, is a species of mammal in the family Tenrecidae. It is the only member of the genus Tenrec. Native to Madagascar, it is also found on the Comoros, Mauritius, Réunion, and Seychelles island groups, where it has been purposely introduced.[2] Its natural habitat is the understory of subtropical-tropical forest, open forest, arid shrub-land, savanna, arable land, pastures, crop plantations, private gardens, and some landscaped, urban areas.[2]
The tailless tenrec is the largest species of the tenrec family, Tenrecidae. It is 26 to 39 cm (10 to 15 in) in length and weighs up to 2 kilograms (4.4 lb).[2] It has medium-sized, coarse grey to reddish-grey fur and long, sharp spines along its body. The animal is omnivorous and, unlike the herbivorous rodents for which it is often mistaken, possesses small, needle-like sharp teeth for a diet of larger invertebrates, frogs, reptiles, mice and other small mammals, as well as fruits, leaves and other vegetation.[3] If threatened, this tenrec will scream, erect its spiny hairs to a crest, jump, buck and bite. It shelters in a nest of grass and leaves under a rock, log or bush by day. It gives birth to a litter of as many as 32 young, with an average litter between 15 and 20 after a gestation of 50–60 days; when young, they have a black-and-white striped appearance. Despite being sometimes known as the tailless tenrec, they have a small tail 1 to 1.5 cm (0.39 to 0.59 in) in length.
The tailless tenrec was the first tropical mammal observed to hibernate, for long stretches of time without waking periods, up to nine months at a time.[4] The tailless tenrec is a host of the acanthocephalan intestinal parasite Promoniliformis ovocristatus.[5]
^Bronner, G.N.; Jenkins, P.D. (2005). "Order Afrosoricida". In Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 77. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
^ abcdStephenson, P.J.; Soarimalala, V.; Goodman, S. (2016). "Tenrec ecaudatus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T40595A97204107. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-1.RLTS.T40595A97204107.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
^Gruber, K. G. (23 October 2014). "Mammals may have slept through dinosaur extinction". Australian Geographic. Retrieved 2019-02-02.
^Dollfus, Robert-Ph.; Golvan, Yves-J. (1963). "Sur un singulier Métacanthocéphale parasite d'insectivores (Tenrecinae) de Madagascar et des Comores" (PDF). Annales de Parasitologie Humaine et Comparée. 38 (5): 793–806. doi:10.1051/parasite/1963385793. Retrieved February 9, 2020.
The taillesstenrec (Tenrec ecaudatus), also known as the common tenrec, is a species of mammal in the family Tenrecidae. It is the only member of the...
The word tenrec is borrowed, via French, from the Malagasy word tandraka (variant of trandraka), which refers to the taillesstenrec (Tenrec ecaudatus);...
The lowland streaked tenrec (Hemicentetes semispinosus) is a small tenrec found in Madagascar. It belongs to the family Tenrecidae in the order Afrosoricida...
The lesser hedgehog tenrec (Echinops telfairi) is a species of mammal in the family Tenrecidae. It is the only species in the genus Echinops and is named...
streaked tenrec (H. nigriceps) Lowland streaked tenrec (H. semispinosus) Genus TenrecTaillesstenrec (T. ecaudatus) Convergent evolution List of mammals...
convergence with moles, their closest relatives are the otter shrews and tenrecs. They are more distantly related to other insectivorous African mammals...
islands by humans include the Javan mongoose (Urva javanica) and taillesstenrec (Tenrec ecaudatus). Twenty-two species of birds are endemic to the archipelago...
The highland streaked tenrec (Hemicentetes nigriceps) is an insectivore which lives in the central upland regions of Madagascar. Its black and white striped...
moles of Southern Africa, the otter shrews of equatorial Africa and the tenrecs of Madagascar. These three groups of small mammals were for most of the...
indigenous to sub-Saharan Africa. They are most closely related to the tenrecs of Madagascar, from which they are thought to have split about 47–53 million...
The greater hedgehog tenrec (Setifer setosus), also known as the large Madagascar hedgehog or sokina, is a species of mammal in the family Tenrecidae....
is no morphological evidence for it. The golden moles, otter shrews and tenrecs are part of this clade. Some also regard the elephant shrews and aardvarks...
origin: golden moles, elephant shrews (also known as sengis), otter shrews, tenrecs, aardvarks, hyraxes, elephants, sea cows, and several extinct clades. Most...
in the genus Potamogale. Otter shrews are most closely related to the tenrecs of Madagascar. They are nocturnal carnivores that feed on aquatic animals...
the basis of molecular data indicating that Talazac's shrew tenrec and Dobson's shrew tenrec form a sister group to the rest of Microgale, these two species...
The pale shrew tenrec (Microgale fotsifotsy), also known as the pale-footed shrew tenrec is a species of mammal in the family Tenrecidae. It is endemic...
from mainland Africa. They brought to Madagascar the ancestors of its tenrecs, lemurs, carnivorans and nesomyine rodents. The other mammalian colonizations...
The dryad shrew tenrec (Microgale dryas), also known as the tree shrew tenrec, is a species of mammal in the family Tenrecidae. It is endemic to Madagascar...
such as the crab-eating macaque, rats, mice, small Indian mongoose, taillesstenrec, rusa (Indonesian deer), as well feral dogs and cats and farm livestock...
Microgale grandidieri, also known as Grandidier's shrew tenrec, is a species of shrew tenrec occurring in the dry forests of western and southwestern Madagascar...