Elephant shrews are not, in fact, shrews. Recent evidence suggests that they are more closely related to a group of African mammals that includes hyraxes, elephants, sea cows, aardvarks, golden moles, and tenrecs. Elephant shrews (also called sengis) are represented by a single family, the Macroscelididae, including 4 genera and 19 living species.
Elephant shrews take their name from their long pointed head and very long, mobile, trunk-like nose. Long, slim legs and characteristic hunchbacked posture give them the appearance of a miniature antelope or perhaps a tiny pig with a long tail. A gland on the underside of the tail produces a strong scent used to mark territories. This musky smell apparently serves as a deterrent against many carnivores.
Checkered elephant shrews (also called giant elephant shrews) are one of the largest of the elephant shrews. The coat has a “checkered” pattern on the back with alternating chestnut and off-white colors.
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Checkered elephant shrews are found only in central and southeast Africa, in the countries of Uganda, southern Tanzania, northern Zaire, northern and eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, northern and central Mozambique, northeastern Zambia, and Malawi.
Although found in a range of habitats, the checkered elephant shrew is more adapted to areas where water and plentiful supplies of food are available year round. The thick ground cover of coastal bush forest, as well as highland and lowland forest, provides an ideal habitat.
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Elephant shrews form pairs that live in a common territory of several acres, but they are seldom together. They do, however, keep track of each other's whereabouts through scent markings. They are intolerant of close neighbors, and should one trespass into the territory, it will be violently evicted, chased out by the male if the intruder is another male or by the female if it is female. Aggressive encounters involve screaming, sparring, snapping and kicking, all of which can happen so rapidly that it appears to be a blur of animals tumbling on the forest floor.
Checkered elephant shrews give birth four or five times a year, and a female can be gestating and lactating at the same time. The fully haired newborn remains hidden for the first 3 weeks and then follows the mother for about a week. After weaning and becoming independent, the offspring remains in the parents' territory for another 6 weeks. By this time it is almost adult size and leaves to establish its own territory. This is the most vulnerable time for elephant shrews - those that survive and manage to set up a territory will probably only live up to 4 years.
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Unlike many small mammals, the checkered elephant shrew is only active during daylight. It feeds nearly all day, constantly poking its long nose under leaves and forest litter. The mouth is set back and below the nose, but the tongue is extremely long and can be extended beyond the end of the nose. It eats invertebrates like ants, termites, beetles, spiders, millipedes and worms.
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In some areas of Africa people use elephant shrews as a source of food, but the biggest problem faced by the shrew is that its distribution is limited to highly fragmented forests. Habitat fragmentation limits an individual animal’s access to available resources and makes finding a mate more difficult, thereby restricting populations.
Did You Know?
- Elephant shrews are not true shrews - they are more closely related to aardvarks, golden moles, and tenrecs.
- The checkered elephant shrew is a swift runner, and can make leaps of almost 3 feet. Its keen senses of sight, hearing and smell alert it quickly to danger.
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