Surf Wiki
Save to docs
general/elephant-shrews

From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

Black and rufous sengi

Species of mammal

Black and rufous sengi
Summary

Species of mammal

The black and rufous sengi (Rhynchocyon petersi), the black and rufous elephant shrew, or the Zanj elephant shrew is one of the 17 species of elephant shrew found only in Africa. It is native to the lowland montane and dense forests of Kenya and Tanzania. Like other members of the genus Rhynchocyon, it is a relatively large species, with adults averaging about 28 cm in length and 450 – in weight.

Distribution and habitat

Distribution of ''Rhynchocyon petersi'' in the [[Tanzania]]n [[Eastern Arc Mountains]]. The species is typically limited to small, fragmented forest patches (darker blue) within the mountains (blue).

The forests of the Eastern Arc Mountains are critical habitats for R. petersi.

Diet and behaviour

Young, captive black and rufous sengi foraging

It eats insects such as beetles, termites, and centipedes, using its proboscis to dig them from the soil and its tongue to lick them up. Like most elephant shrews, it lives in monogamous pairs, defending hectare-sized territories. requiring dry leaf litter

Elephant shrews in zoological gardens

Several zoos have begun breeding this elephant shrew, including seven in Europe, such as the Prague and Wrocław zoos, along with four zoos in the United States including the Philadelphia Zoo. For example, two black and rufous sengi males were born on February 4, 2007, at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C.

References

Skeleton of ''Rhynchocyon petersi'' ([[Museum of Osteology]])

References

  1. Hoffmann, M.. (2016). "''Rhynchocyon petersi''".
  2. {{MSW3 Macroscelidea
  3. Norbert J. Cordeiro. (2005). "Notes on the ecology and status of some forest mammals in four Eastern Arc Mountains". Journal of East African Natural History.
  4. G. Rathbun. (1984). Elephant-shrews, Order Macroscelidea. In : MacDonald (ed), ''The Encyclopedia of Mammals''. Facts on File Publications, New York: 730–735.
  5. The [[Chome Forest Reserve]] in Tanzania is an isolated, and largely undisturbed, habitat for the shrews. Populations densities in the Chome area are significantly lower than the surrounding areas, home to approximately 2700 ''R. petersi'', and is thought to be the result of restricted migration and illegal human activity. It was once listed by the [[IUCN Red List]] as vulnerable, but has since been changed to a status of least concern. However, its numbers are reportedly declining; suffering from severe [[Habitat fragmentation|forest fragmentation]] and degradation from human expansion.M. Hoffmann, N. Burgess, and F. Rovero. (2016). ''Rhynchocyon petersi''. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T19708A21286959. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016- 1.RLTS.T19708A21286959.en
  6. J. Kingdon. (1997). "The Kingdon Field Guide to African Mammals". Academic Press.
  7. C. D. Fitzgibbon. (1994). "Surveying ''Rhynchocyon'' elephant-shrews in tropical forest". African Journal of Ecology.
  8. G. B. Rathbun. (1979). "The social structure and ecology of elephant-shrews". Journal of Comparative Ethology.
  9. Stephanie Coster. (2005). "Density and cover preferences of Black-and-rufous elephant-shrews (''Rhynchocyon petersi'') in Chome Forest Reserve, Tanzania". Belgian Journal of Zoology.
  10. https://www.prazskyden.cz/prazska-zoo-ma-noveho-vzacneho-obyvatele-zije-jen-v-nekolika-evropskych-zahradach/ Prague ZOO exhibits new elephant shrews
Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

elephant-shrews mammals-of-kenya mammals-of-tanzania mammals-described-in-1880 taxa-named-by-josé-vicente-barbosa-du-bocage
Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about Black and rufous sengi — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report