Mammals · Afrosoricida · Tenrecidae

Tailess Tenrec

Tenrec ecaudatus

Least Concern

The species is abundant and widely distributed; it faces no significant short-term risk. See full glossary

The tailless tenrec, or common tenrec, is the largest of the tenrecs and one of the commonest mammals in Madagascar. Its body is covered in coarse hair mixed with spines, and it has virtually no tail. It is omnivorous and opportunistic, and spends the dry season torpid inside a sealed burrow. It holds an absolute record among mammals: it is the species with the largest known litters, with as many as thirty-two young documented in a single birth.

Weight

600 g – 2.4 kg

Size

26 cm – 39 cm

Lifespan

6 years

Diet

Omnivore

Combines animal and plant food depending on availability.

Activity

Nocturnal

Active mainly at night.

Social structure

Solitary

Lives and hunts alone, joining others only to breed.

Sighting difficulty

Easy

SavannaRainforestTemperate forestOmnivore Nocturnal Solitary Savanna Rainforest Temperate forest Mammal

4countries2same family

Fun facts

reproducciónIt can have litters of over 30 young, among the largest recorded in any placental mammal, and its spiny body recalls a hedgehog by convergent evolution.
It has the largest litters of any mammal: births of as many as thirty-two young have been documented, and the females have more than twenty pairs of teats in order to suckle them.
The young communicate with their mother by raising and rubbing specialised dorsal spines that produce a high-frequency sound, a stridulation mechanism it shares within its group only with the streaked tenrec.

Life cycle & biology

Skeleton type: Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (mammal)
Habitat & environment: Forest, scrub, savanna and farmed areas across almost all of Madagascar
Sexual maturity: 6 months
Gestation / incubation: 58 days
Litter / clutch size: 18

Sources consulted: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenrec_ecaudatus