The Elephant Shrews are
also known as jumping shrews or sengis.
Recent evidence suggests
that they are more closely associated with a group of African mammals,
including elephants, sea cows, and aardvarks belonging to the family
Macroscelididae, in the order Macroscelidea. There are 20 species of elephant
shrew and they are placed in six genera, three of which are monotypic.
They're traditional common
English name is "Elephant Shrews," but the scientific name is RHYNCHOCYON CIRNEI; it has a long nose
and streamlined resemblance to an elephant's trunk their superficial similarity
with shrews (family Soricidae) in the order Eulipotyphla.
Physical Description:
Elephant Shrew has
mostly white-brown or brown fur. It is a long, flexible snout with a snub nose
at the end and has large eyes and ears. Their back legs are strong and adapted
for leaping and swift running to escape predators and when anxiety is
expressed, they run swiftly with their toes. They move with their tails held
horizontal to the ground.
Elephant Shrew Size:
Smaller species weigh
between 30 and 280 grams, 9 to 22 cm long body and shorter tail 8 to 18 cm.
Depending on their species, size may vary. The Short-eared elephant shrews are
smaller than elephant shrews and weigh between 28 and 43 grams and 10 cm long
body.
Native Habitat:
The elephant shrews are
found in the uplands of southern, eastern, and extreme northwestern Africa,
inhabiting dry forests and scrub savannas and open country covered by sparse
shrubs or grass, semiarid and rocky habitats, and sandy, sparsely vegetated
plains.
Many Elephant Shrews
live in monogamous pairs that share and defend their home territory, marked
using scent glands though they are not highly social animals. The Rhynchocyon species also dig small
conical holes in mud, bandicoot-style, but others may use natural coverings or
build leaf nests. In the dry valleys and rocky deserts of Southwest Africa, the
short-eared elephant shrew are inhabitants. Females drive out other females,
while males try to separate other males. Although they live in pairs, partners
do not care for each other very much and their sole purpose is to reunite with
the opposite sex. Social behavior is not very common and they also have
separate nests. One or two youngsters develop at birth; They can run within a
few hours.
Elephant Shrew Food/Eating Habits:
Insects, spiders,
centipedes, millipedes, and earthworms are the main food of elephant shrews.
The elephant shrew uses its nose to find prey and tongue to flick small food
into its mouth. Some elephant shrew eats a small amount of plant matter,
especially new leaves, seeds, and small fruits.
Elephant Shrew Lifespan:
Elephant shrews are
thought to live in the raw wild for 1 to 2 years. They can live 3-4 years in
human care. The gestation period varies from 45 to 60 days. The female will
carry one to three liters of young several times a year. The young are born
relatively well but stay home for several days before moving out. After five
days, the young milk diets are supplemented with scattering insects, collected, and transported to the female shrews. Young then slowly begin to explore their
environments and hunt for insects. After about 15 days, the youth will begin
the migration phase of their lives and become sexually active within 41–46
days.
Evaluation:
The Elephant shrews were
originally classified as shrews (Soricidae) due to their extreme resemblance.
However, in the late 1990s, when the biologists began using detailed
information about genetic sequences to reconstruct mammalian family trees, the
results were surprising. Elephant shrews were not very closely associated with
shrews or other groups of mammals, such as rabbits, with which they were
sometimes thrown on their backs. Instead, pull the elephant from an unexpected
branch of the tree: sidewalk, manatee, and elephant breed!
This branch of the
mammalian tree is now known as Afrotharia. Based on DNA, geological, and fossil
evidence, scientists believe that the clade originated about 100 million years
ago. The evolutionary history of elephant shrews is confined to Africa and
dates to the Late Eocene (41.3 million to 33.9 million years ago).
