Nature Atlas

How Nature Works
Sign In
Text size
100%
Theme
Taxa

Tenrecidae

Mammal Families

Tenrecidae is a family of afrotherian mammals in the order Afrosoricida, endemic to Madagascar and commonly called tenrecs. The family comprises three subfamilies, eight genera, and thirty one living species, which through adaptive radiation and convergent evolution have come to resemble hedgehogs, shrews, opossums, rats, or mice depending on species. Tenrecs range in size from small shrew-like forms of about five grams to the common tenrec at over a kilogram, are among the few terrestrial mammals known to echolocate, and occupy aquatic, arboreal, terrestrial, and burrowing habitats across the island.

Facts
Taxonomic Rank
Family 1
Member Count Band
10 to 100 Species 2
Era First Appeared
Paleogene 3
Classification
Living or Extinct
Yes 1
In the Other Atlases

Found In

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Sources
1. Wikipedia: Tenrec
Wikipedia
  • Tenrecidae: present tense, endemic to Madagascar
  • Introduction
    A tenrec () is a mammal belonging to any species within the afrotherian family Tenrecidae, which is endemic to Madagascar.
View the Source
2. Catalogue of Life (ChecklistBank): Taxon metrics for Tenrecidae
Catalogue of Life (ChecklistBank)Taxon metrics, speciesExtantCount
Quote, Taxon metrics, speciesExtantCount
"speciesExtantCount": 31
View the Source
3. Paleobiology Database: Taxon record for Tenrecidae
Paleobiology DatabaseTaxon record, first appearance (firstapp_max_ma, early_interval)
Quote, Taxon record, first appearance (firstapp_max_ma, early_interval)
"taxon_name": "Tenrecidae" ... "firstapp_max_ma": 41.03 ... "early_interval": "Bartonian"
View the Source
Wikidata: Tenrecidae
Wikidata Q23340, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)View the Source
Comments (0)
No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.
Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.