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Otter Shrew
Potamogalidae is the family of "otter shrews", a group of semiaquatic riverine afrotherian mammals 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 years ago. They were formerly considered a subfamily of Tenrecidae. All otter shrews are carnivorous, preying on any aquatic animal they can find with their sensitive whiskers, particurally insects. As their common name suggests, they bear a strong, but superficial resemblance to true otters to which they are not closely related, nor are they closely related to true shrews. They move through the water by undulating their tail in a side-to-side motion similar to the motions made by a crocodile swimming. Morphology Otter shrews have small eyes and ears, consistent with the features of nearly all shrews. They have a broad, flat, muzzle that is substantially covered with sensetive whiskers and ends in a leathery pad. The margins o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Giant Otter Shrew
The giant otter shrew (''Potamogale velox'') is a semiaquatic, carnivorous afrotherian mammal. It is found in the main rainforest block of central Africa from Nigeria to Zambia, with a few isolated populations in Kenya and Uganda. It lives in streams, wetlands and slow flowing larger rivers. It is the only species in the genus ''Potamogale''. Otter shrews are most closely related to the tenrecs of Madagascar. They are nocturnal carnivores that feed on aquatic animals. Despite its name, the giant otter shrew is not a true shrew ( Soricidae). The common name refers to their resemblance to otters with their flat face, stiff whiskers, and muscular tails, and to their overall superficial similarity to true shrews. Description The giant otter shrew is a mammal superficially similar to an otter in appearance. It is characterized by a long, flat tail, which it uses for swimming by sideways undulation like a fish. It has a muzzle covered with bristles, and flat shielded nostrils. It has ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Afrotheria
Afrotheria ( from Latin ''Afro-'' "of Africa" + ''theria'' "wild beast") is a clade of mammals, the living members of which belong to groups that are either currently living in Africa or of African origin: golden moles, elephant shrews (also known as sengis), tenrecs, aardvarks, hyraxes, elephants, sea cows, and several extinct clades. Most groups of afrotheres share little or no superficial resemblance, and their similarities have only become known in recent times because of genetics and molecular studies. Many afrothere groups are found mostly or exclusively in Africa, reflecting the fact that Africa was an island continent from the Cretaceous until the early Miocene around 20 million years ago, when Afro-Arabia collided with Eurasia. Because Africa was isolated by water, Laurasian groups of mammals such as insectivores, rodents, lagomorphs, carnivorans and ungulates could not reach Africa for much of the early to mid-Cenozoic. Instead, the niches occupied by those groups on the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Transactions Of The Zoological Society Of London (Pl
The ''Journal of Zoology'' is a scientific journal concerning zoology, the study of animals. It was founded in 1830 by the Zoological Society of London and is published by Wiley-Blackwell. It carries original research papers, which are targeted towards general readers. Some of the articles are available via open access, depending on the author's wishes. According to the ''Journal Citation Reports'', the journal has a 2020 impact factor of 2.322, ranking it 36th out of 175 journals in the category "Zoology". From around 1833, it was known as the ''Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London'' (). From 1965 to 1984, it was known as the ''Journal of Zoology: Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London'' (). See also * List of zoology journals This is a list of scientific journals which cover the field of zoology. A * ''Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae'' * ''Acta Zoologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae'' * '' Acta Zoologica Bulgarica'' * ''Acta Zoologica Mexic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tenrecomorpha
Tenrecomorpha is the suborder of otter shrews and tenrecs, a group of afrotherian mammals indigenous to equatorial Africa and Madagascar, respectively. The two families are thought to have split about 47–53 million years ago. Potamogalid otter shrews were formerly considered a subfamily of Tenrecidae. The suborder is also presumed to contain the extinct genus ''Plesiorycteropus'', a group of possibly fossorial insectivores similar to aardvarks, which is known to be more closely related to tenrecs of subfamily Tenrecinae than to golden moles of suborder Chrysochloridea. Otter shrews are carnivorous and semiaquatic, preying on any aquatic animal they can find with their sensitive whiskers. All tenrecs are believed to descend from a common ancestor that lived 29–37 million years (Ma) ago after rafting from Africa to Madagascar in a single event. Tenrecs are widely diverse; as a result of convergent evolution they resemble hedgehogs, shrews, opossums or mice. All tenrecs appea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Animal Kingdom, Arranged According To Its Organization, Serving As A Foundation For The Natural History Of Animals (Pl
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the most frequently used word in the English language; studies and analyses of texts have found it to account for seven percent of all printed English-language words. It is derived from gendered articles in Old English which combined in Middle English and now has a single form used with pronouns of any gender. The word can be used with both singular and plural nouns, and with a noun that starts with any letter. This is different from many other languages, which have different forms of the definite article for different genders or numbers. Pronunciation In most dialects, "the" is pronounced as (with the voiced dental fricative followed by a schwa) when followed by a consonant sound, and as (homophone of pronoun ''thee'') when followed by a v ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chrysochloridae
Golden moles are small insectivorous burrowing mammals endemic to Sub-Saharan Africa. They comprise the family Chrysochloridae and as such they are taxonomically distinct from the true moles, family Talpidae, and other mole-like families, all of which, to various degrees, they resemble as a result of evolutionary convergence. There are 21 species. Some (e.g., ''Chrysochloris asiatica'', ''Amblysomus hottentotus'') are relatively common, whereas others (e.g., species of ''Chrysospalax'', ''Cryptochloris'', ''Neamblysomus'') are rare and endangered. Characteristics and affinities Like most burrowing mammals with similar habits, the Chrysochloridae have short legs with powerful digging claws, very dense fur that repels dirt and moisture, and toughened skin, particularly on the head. Their eyes are non-functional and covered with furred skin. The external ears are just tiny openings. In particular, golden moles bear a remarkable resemblance to the marsupial moles of Australia, famil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Afrosoricida
The order Afrosoricida (a Latin-Greek compound name which means "looking like African shrews") contains the golden moles of Southern Africa, the otter shrews of equatorial Africa and the tenrecs of Madagascar. These three families of small mammals have traditionally been considered to be a part of the order Insectivora, and were later included in Lipotyphla after Insectivora was abandoned as a wastebasket taxon, before Lipotyphla was also found to be polyphyletic. Naming Some biologists use Tenrecomorpha as the name for the tenrec-golden mole clade, but Gary Bronner and Paulina Jenkins argue that Afrosoricida is more appropriate, despite their misgivings about the similarity between the name "Afrosoricida" and the unrelated shrew subgenus ''Afrosorex''. However, ''Afrosorex'' Hutterer, 1986 is a synonym of ''Crocidura'' Wagler, 1832, eliminating any confusion. Hedges discussed at length the problems with using Tenrecomorpha and other proposed names for this clade of mammals other ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rhynchocyon Chrysopygus-J Smit White Background
''Rhynchocyon'' is a genus of elephant shrew (or sengi) in the family Macroscelididae. Members of this genus are known colloquially as the checkered elephant shrews or giant sengis. It contains the following five species: *Golden-rumped elephant shrew, ''Rhynchocyon chrysopygus'' *Checkered elephant shrew, ''Rhynchocyon cirnei'' *Black and rufous elephant shrew, ''Rhynchocyon petersi'' * Stuhlmann's elephant shrew, ''Rhynchocyon stuhlmanni'' *Grey-faced sengi, ''Rhynchocyon udzungwensis'' Ecology The giant sengis are endemic to Africa, and usually live in lowland montane and dense forests, often "avoiding" edges of forest patches. They eat primarily insects such as beetles, termites, ants, and centipedes, using their proboscises to dig them from the soil and its tongue to lick them up. Their facial morphology limits their diets to tiny invertebrates, and unlike other members of Macroscelidea, do not supplement their diet with foods such as nuts or small fruits. They typically ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Afroinsectivora
Afroinsectivora is a clade of mammals that includes the macroscelideans and afrosoricidans.. Retrieved September 2017. This clade includes the elephant shrews, golden moles and tenrecs. Phylogeny Classification * clade Afroinsectivora ** order Macroscelidea *** Macroscelididae ****Elephant shrew ** order Afrosoricida *** Chrysochloridae ****Golden mole *** Tenrecidae **** Tenrec A tenrec is any species of mammal within the afrotherian family Tenrecidae endemic to Madagascar. Tenrecs are wildly diverse; as a result of convergent evolution some resemble hedgehogs, shrews, opossums, rats, and mice. They occupy aquatic, a ... Notes References * Mammal unranked clades {{Mammal-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aardvark2 (PSF) Colourised
The aardvark ( ; ''Orycteropus afer'') is a medium-sized, burrowing, nocturnal mammal native to Africa. It is the only living species of the order Tubulidentata, although other prehistoric species and genera of Tubulidentata are known. Unlike most other insectivores, it has a long pig-like snout, which is used to sniff out food. It roams over most of the southern two-thirds of the African continent, avoiding areas that are mainly rocky. A nocturnal feeder, it subsists on ants and termites, which it will dig out of their hills using its sharp claws and powerful legs. It also digs to create burrows in which to live and rear its young. The animal is listed as "least concern" by the IUCN, although its numbers are decreasing. Aardvarks are afrotheres, a clade which also includes elephants, manatees, and hyraxes. Name and taxonomy Name The aardvark is sometimes colloquially called the "African ant bear", "anteater" (not to be confused with the South American anteater), or the "C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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