The golden-rumped elephant shrew (''Rhynchocyon chrysopygus'') is a small African mammal. It is the largest species of the

elephant shrew Elephant shrews, also called jumping shrews or sengis, are small insectivorous mammals native to Africa, belonging to the family Macroscelididae, in the order Macroscelidea. Their traditional common English name "elephant shrew" comes from a perc ...

family along with its close relative the grey-faced sengi. It is classified as endangered.

Taxonomy and description

The golden-rumped elephant shrew is found in the northern coastal areas in and around

Arabuko Sokoke National Park The Arabuko Sokoke Forest Reserve is located on the coast of Kenya, 110 km north of Mombasa and is protected as a national Forest Reserve. The Arabuko Sokoke National Park, situated at the north-western edge of the Arabuko Sokoke Forest Reserv ...

Mombasa Mombasa ( ; ) is a coastal city in southeastern Kenya along the Indian Ocean. It was the first capital of the British East Africa, before Nairobi was elevated to capital city status. It now serves as the capital of Mombasa County. The town is ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...

. Its name derives from the conspicuous golden fur on its hindquarters, distinctive golden coloration on its rump, and grizzled gold forehead contrasting with its dark reddish-brown color. The golden-rumped elephant shrew has long muscular rear legs and shorter, less developed forelegs. Like other elephant shrews, this species has a long and flexible snout, which is where its genus gets its name. Its tail is largely black except for the last third, which is white with a black tip. On juveniles, the fur shows vestigial traces of a checkerboard pattern seen on giant elephant shrews like the

checkered elephant shrew The checkered elephant shrew or checkered sengi (''Rhynchocyon cirnei'') is a species of elephant shrew in the family Macroscelididae. Description Checked elephant shrews will grow to be around long, excluding their tail, making them one of ...

Reproduction

The golden-rumped elephant shrews are monogamous and territorial behavior is seen in both males and females defending overlapping territories. They mate year round. Females give birth to one young in an approximate 42-day cycle. The newborn offspring are usually ready to leave the mother's den after two weeks, and it takes approximately five days after leaving the nest for them to become fully independent in the wild. The male does not take part in any parental care of the newborns.

Habitat and distribution

The golden-rumped elephant shrew is a diurnal animal, which lives in densely vegetated forests, avoiding clear and open areas to help protect themselves from predators. Golden-rumped elephant shrews build up to six nests at a time, alternating nests every night to leave no pattern for hunting predators to follow. It inhabits coastal regions and is found in moist, dense-brush forests and lowland semi-deciduous forests. Males have slightly larger home areas than females, and are more likely to trespass into neighboring territories, which makes them more vulnerable to predators.

Ecology and behavior

Their diet consists of invertebrates such as earthworms, millipedes, insects and spiders. These animals root through the leaf litter for 80% of their day looking for grasshoppers,

beetle Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...

spider Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species ...

s and other small invertebrates. The golden-rumped elephant shrew evolved various strategies to avoid

predator Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill th ...

s, particularly snakes (such as black mambas and cobras) and the southern banded snake-eagle. This animal is fast, capable of running up to . When it detects a predator within its escape distance, it will adopt a defensive position and will try to escape taking advantage of its agility and speed. If, however, the predator is outside its escape distance, the elephant shrew will advertise its presence by slapping the leaf litter, letting the predator know it has been spotted. In the event of a chase or an ambush, the golden-rumped's flash of fur will often deflect the predator's attention away from the head and onto the rump, which has thicker skin and could give them an opportunity to survive an attack. The protected rump is more pronounced in males than female, and this dermal shield is roughly three times thicker than the skin in the middle of its back. Each shrew maintains several

nest A nest is a structure built for certain animals to hold eggs or young. Although nests are most closely associated with birds, members of all classes of vertebrates and some invertebrates construct nests. They may be composed of organic materi ...

s so they cannot be easily found by leaving a trace or establishing a pattern.

Threats and conservation

The golden-rumped elephant shrew is classified as endangered largely due to a fragmented forest environment and anthropogenic factors. Their most notable population is in the Arabuko-Sokoke Forest in Kenya. They are subject to being caught in traps, but are not targeted as a source of food because of their poor taste. In the early 1990s, it was estimated that roughly 3,000 were caught yearly by trappers. Forest patrols have reduced trapping since then, but there are areas that are not patrolled, where trappers are able to trap freely. The Arabuko-Sokoke forest and other Kenyan forests where the shrews live, have the status of National Monuments, which prevents any further development, but does not particularly provide specific protection for them or for biodiversity. Due to their small populations, even though many are protected, their numbers are expected to continue to decline due to stochastic events and further anthropogenic disturbances.

References

External links

Golden-rumped Sengi (''Rhynchocyon chrysopygus'').
Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered (EDGE).
Golden-rumped elephant-shrew (''Rhynchocyon chrysopygus'').
ARKive. {{Taxonbar, from=Q1333257 golden-rumped elephant shrew EDGE species Mammals of Kenya Endemic fauna of Kenya golden-rumped elephant shrew golden-rumped elephant shrew