Lesser Hedgehog Tenrec (Echinops telfairi) lives in dry forests across Madagascar. It feeds on insects and fruits. Its conservation status is Least Concern.
Fascinating facts about the Lesser Hedgehog Tenrec
- A solitary hunter, the lesser hedgehog tenrec spends daylight hidden under logs, branches, leaves or in hollow trees, emerging to sniff out insects and the occasional small vertebrate. It usually forages alone, only a mother will be seen with her young. It also carries the intestinal parasite Promoniliformis ovocristatus.
- Living on the ground, the tenrec is strictly terrestrial, navigating the dry forest floor and savanna scrub where trees are sparse. Its preferred daytime shelters, logs, leaf piles, or hollow trunks. In hot weather it stretches out, but otherwise curls up.
- A tiny mammal the size of a child's hand, the lesser hedgehog tenrec measures just 5 to 6.8 inches (13 to 17 cm) from head to tail and weighs about 7 ounces (0.2 kg). It lives only on Madagascar, making it a true island specialist.
- When winter chills arrive, the tenrec enters a state of torpor. After this, breeding bursts forth in October, but only if warm weather and enough insects awaken the animals from torpor.
- The only member of the genus Echinops, the lesser hedgehog tenrec also shares a cloaca, a single opening for waste and reproduction like birds and reptiles. Humans have taken notice, and the species has become popular in the exotic pet trade.
Sources
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At a glance
RangeMadagascar
HabitatDry forests
DietInsects and fruits
About the Lesser Hedgehog Tenrec
In the moonlit underbrush of Madagascar's forests, the lesser hedgehog tenrec stirs, its diminutive form belied by a fearless and intrepid spirit. As it moves through the dense vegetation, its spines bristling like a tiny, animated porcupine, it snuffles and snorts with an endearing intensity, driven by an insatiable hunger for insects and small invertebrates. With each twitch of its whiskers and flick of its pointed snout, this tiny, spiny creature embodies a remarkable blend of vulnerability and resilience, a true marvel of evolutionary adaptation.
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