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Tenrecinae
Tenrecinae is a tenrec subfamily endemic to the island of Madagascar. It contains the largest species in the family, ''Tenrec ecaudatus''. All members of the genus possess spines, analogous to those of hedgehogs, for defense against predators. Tenrecinae is thought to have split from the lineages of all other extant tenrecs about 36 million years ( Ma) ago. The deepest phylogenetic split within the subfamily, that between two clades composed of ''Echinops'' plus ''Setifer'' and ''Hemicentetes'' plus ''Tenrec'', is thought to have occurred about 26 Ma ago. In turn, ''Hemicentetes'' is thought to have diverged from ''Tenrec'' about 16 Ma ago, and ''Echinops'' from ''Setifer'' about 10 Ma ago. Extant species Subfamily Tenrecinae * Tribe: Setiferini ** Genus ''Echinops'' *** Lesser hedgehog tenrec (''E. telfairi'') ** Genus ''Setifer'' *** Greater hedgehog tenrec (''S. setosus'') * Tribe: Tenrecini ** Genus '' Hemicentetes'' *** Highland streaked tenrec (''H. nigriceps'') *** L ... [...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] |
Lesser Hedgehog Tenrec
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 in honour of Charles Telfair. It is endemic to Madagascar. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, shrubland, and shrubland and dry savanna. Description The lesser hedgehog tenrec is a small, stout-bodied animal similar to a hedgehog, hence the name. Their tails are short, their limbs and muzzles are of moderate length, and their ears are prominent. The entire dorsum is covered with sharp spines. Color is usually yellow buff; individuals range from near white to almost black. Head and body length is . Weight is about . Lesser hedgehog tenrecs (like all tenrecs) have a cloaca (common uro-genital opening), like a bird or a reptile. Behavior This tenrec is terrestrial. It spends its daytime hours resting under a log, a pile of branches, leaves, straws or in a hollow tree, although trees are widely ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Mammals Of Madagascar
This is a list of the native wild mammal species recorded in Madagascar. As of June 2014 (following the IUCN reassessment of the lemurs) there are 241 extant mammal species recognized in Madagascar, of which 22 are critically endangered, 62 are endangered, 32 are vulnerable, 9 are near threatened, 72 are of least concern and 44 are either data deficient or not evaluated. All of the critically endangered species are lemurs. The mammalian fauna of Madagascar is highly distinctive and largely endemic. The extant nonmarine, nonchiropteran taxa constitute (as of June 2014) 168 species, 40 genera and 9 families; of these, besides a probably introduced shrew, endemic taxa make up all the species, all the genera, and all but one of the families. This endemic terrestrial fauna, consisting of lemurs, tenrecs, nesomyine rodents and euplerid carnivorans, is thought to have colonized the island from Africa via four (or five, if aye-ayes arrived separately) rafting events. The other historic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tenrec (genus)
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 in the Comoros, Mauritius, Réunion, and Seychelles, where it has been introduced. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical forest, grassland, and shrubland, savanna, arable land, pastures, plantations, rural gardens, and urban areas. The tailless tenrec is the largest species of the tenrec family, Tenrecidae. It is in length and weighs up to . It has medium-sized, coarse grey to reddish-grey fur and long, sharp spines along its body. This animal is omnivorous, with a diet consisting of invertebrates and animals such as frogs and mice, as well as leaves. 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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tailless Tenrec
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 in the Comoros, Mauritius, Réunion, and Seychelles, where it has been introduced. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical forest, grassland, and shrubland, savanna, arable land, pastures, plantations, rural gardens, and urban areas. The tailless tenrec is the largest species of the tenrec family, Tenrecidae. It is in length and weighs up to . It has medium-sized, coarse grey to reddish-grey fur and long, sharp spines along its body. This animal is omnivorous, with a diet consisting of invertebrates and animals such as frogs and mice, as well as leaves. 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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lowland Streaked Tenrec
The lowland streaked tenrec (''Hemicentetes semispinosus'') is a small tenrec found in Madagascar. It belongs to the family Tenrecidae in the order Afrosoricida, and more specifically to the subfamily of the spiny tenrecs Tenrecinae. Its natural habitats are in tropical lowland rain forests in northern and eastern parts of Madagascar. It is very closely related to the Highland streaked tenrec. Distribution and habitat It can be found on land, splashing in shallow waters or digging underground. Description Physical appearance The average body size for ''H. semispinosus'' is a length of however adults have been recorded to grow up to a maximum of . Body weight for adults of this species can range from . This species has a black spiny pelage with yellow or chestnut-brown stripes that run the length of the body. There is a median yellow stripe that runs down the rostrum along with one dorsal and two lateral stripes that mark the length of the body and may serve as a warning to pred ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tenrec Ecaudatus
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 in the Comoros, Mauritius, Réunion, and Seychelles, where it has been introduced. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical forest, grassland, and shrubland, savanna, arable land, pastures, plantations, rural gardens, and urban areas. The tailless tenrec is the largest species of the tenrec family, Tenrecidae. It is in length and weighs up to . It has medium-sized, coarse grey to reddish-grey fur and long, sharp spines along its body. This animal is omnivorous, with a diet consisting of invertebrates and animals such as frogs and mice, as well as leaves. 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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Megaannum
A year or annus is the orbital period of a planetary body, for example, the Earth, moving in its orbit around the Sun. Due to the Earth's axial tilt, the course of a year sees the passing of the seasons, marked by change in weather, the hours of daylight, and, consequently, vegetation and soil fertility. In temperate and subpolar regions around the planet, four seasons are generally recognized: spring, summer, autumn and winter. In tropical and subtropical regions, several geographical sectors do not present defined seasons; but in the seasonal tropics, the annual wet and dry seasons are recognized and tracked. A calendar year is an approximation of the number of days of the Earth's orbital period, as counted in a given calendar. The Gregorian calendar, or modern calendar, presents its calendar year to be either a common year of 365 days or a leap year of 366 days, as do the Julian calendars. For the Gregorian calendar, the average length of the calendar year (the mean yea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Convergent Evolution
Convergent evolution is the independent evolution of similar features in species of different periods or epochs in time. Convergent evolution creates analogous structures that have similar form or function but were not present in the last common ancestor of those groups. The cladistic term for the same phenomenon is homoplasy. The recurrent evolution of flight is a classic example, as flying insects, birds, pterosaurs, and bats have independently evolved the useful capacity of flight. Functionally similar features that have arisen through convergent evolution are ''analogous'', whereas '' homologous'' structures or traits have a common origin but can have dissimilar functions. Bird, bat, and pterosaur wings are analogous structures, but their forelimbs are homologous, sharing an ancestral state despite serving different functions. The opposite of convergence is divergent evolution, where related species evolve different traits. Convergent evolution is similar to parallel evo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Highland Streaked Tenrec
The highland streaked tenrec (''Hemicentetes nigriceps'') is an insectivore which lives in the central upland regions of Madagascar. Its black and white striped body is covered with quills, which it will raise when agitated. The spines detach and remain in the body of an inquisitive predator. The function of the black-and-white pattern may be to mimic juvenile ''Tenrec ecaudatus'' since the parents of this species are known to be aggressively protective, and the stripes may have developed as a type of camouflage while foraging. The highland streaked tenrec uses its long snout to burrow under leaves and bark, searching for earthworm An earthworm is a terrestrial invertebrate that belongs to the phylum Annelida. They exhibit a tube-within-a-tube body plan; they are externally segmented with corresponding internal segmentation; and they usually have setae on all segments. Th ...s, its primary food. References * {{Taxonbar, from=Q1762455 Endemic fauna of Madagascar Mammals ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greater Hedgehog Tenrec
The greater hedgehog tenrec (''Setifer setosus''), also known as the large Madagascar hedgehog or sokina, is a species of mammal in the family Tenrecidae. It is endemic to Madagascar. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical forests, shrubland and grassland, savanna, rural gardens, and urban areas. It is the only species in the genus ''Setifer''. Despite the close resemblance, it is not closely related to hedgehogs. Similarly to hedgehogs, neoplasia is common within the species and plays a significant role in morbidity and mortality. Distribution and Habitat Greater hedgehog tenrecs are found throughout the island of Madagascar and are endemic to this island. The island of Madagascar ranges from sea level to 2,250 meters above sea level, and Setifer setosus is found throughout the island, with the exception of wetlands and marshes. Greater hedgehog tenrecs are seen in urban areas and even in areas with extensive human disturbance. The prime habitat for greater hedgeh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clade
A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, the equivalent Latin term ''cladus'' (plural ''cladi'') is often used in taxonomical literature. The common ancestor may be an individual, a population, or a species (extinct or extant). Clades are nested, one in another, as each branch in turn splits into smaller branches. These splits reflect evolutionary history as populations diverged and evolved independently. Clades are termed monophyletic (Greek: "one clan") groups. Over the last few decades, the cladistic approach has revolutionized biological classification and revealed surprising evolutionary relationships among organisms. Increasingly, taxonomists try to avoid naming taxa that are not clades; that is, taxa that are not monophyletic. Some of the relationships between organisms ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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