Lesser long-tailed shrew tenrec

The lesser long-tailed shrew tenrec is a species of mammal in the family Tenrecidae. It is active at all hours of the day and night, but each individual maintains its own pattern of rest and activity.

Range and Habitat

It is endemic to Madagascar. Its natural habitats are subtropical and tropical moist lowland forest|moist lowland] and montane forests.

Description

As its name implies, it occupies the ecological niche filled by shrews in other parts of the world. The coat is short, but dense, and quite lacking in the spines so common in this family. The long tail is prehensile. Its body is 5–15 cm long, with the tail being 7.5–17 cm long.

Diet

Although it climbs well, it usually mostly forages on the forest floor for soil invertebrates like grubs, worms and small insects.

Reproduction

Little is known, but they are believed to produce litters of 2-4 young. They do not appear to hibernate at all.