#Angry giant shoebill full

As a result, most people don’t choose to eat tenrecs – although they can. The meat can also be hard to prepare, especially because of their sharp quills. This means you’d have to hunt a tenrec yourself, as there’s no store where their meat can be bought. Tenrec meat can be hard to access, however. While it’s not common, some people can and do eat tenrecs! These quills can grow to be around 17 mm long. This helps when they curl into a ball, as predators will only be able to reach these sharp points rather than the tenrec itself.

#Angry giant shoebill full

Like porcupines, some species of tenrec have a backside full of sharp and dangerous quills. They’re also only a few centimeters long! That makes them the same weight as half of a poker chip! If you’ve never held a poker chip, 5 grams is also comparable to a sheet of paper. The smallest tenrec weighs less than 5 grams. The smallest tenrec weighs the same as half of a poker chip They can also be found in underground burrows or similar safe, private areas.Ĥ. Instead, the tenrec makes its home in cavities and hollows in the trees of the forests where they live. However, they won’t sleep in these balls. They also have a rough backside, which makes them unappealing to hungry predators. While they aren’t closely related to porcupines, hedgehogs, or armadillos, the tenrec is able to roll into a ball to protect its internal organs, which can easily be damaged due to their soft stomachs. One of the most fascinating facts about the tenrec is how they can contort their bodies to protect themselves if predators were to appear. Here, they snack on a variety of water animals, including tadpoles. They’re nocturnal like other tenrec species, and they’ll spend their nights in streams around the island. One of the species in Eastern Madagascar, known as the web-footed tenrec, is known for being a skilled swimmer. However, as part of the Afrotheria group, they’re also related to elephants and sea cows. The tenrec is most closely related to the golden mole. Instead, these similarities come from convergent evolution, which means two animals evolved the same features at the same time despite being different species. They’re related to elephants!ĭespite looking like a variety of other small mammals, like opossums and hedgehogs, tenrecs actually aren’t closely related to them. Tenrecs are pregnant for around two months, and their babies are nearly fully dependent on their mother for their first month, much like some species of marsupials.

There are 31 species total included in the tenrec family, each found only on Madagascar or the surrounding islands. Instead, they are referred to only as such (i.e., “female tenrec”, “tenrec baby). Unlike some other species, there are no names to differentiate between male, female, and infant tenrecs. However, they are most common in humid forests. Just as they can have various appearance, the tenrec can also be found in a variety of habitats, including different types of forests. They can even resemble marsupials like the opossum! And, because of convergent evolution that has led different tenrec specimen to evolve at the same time as other small mammals, they often resemble everything from hedgehogs to shrews to rats. These small mammals are endemic to the island of Madagascar.ĭespite all being in the same family, tenrecs are a diverse animal with a variety of differences. The name tenrec refers to any species in the family Tenrecidae. The word tenrec comes Malagasy word tàndraka, which is related to the Malay word landak “porcupine”. They are nocturnal omnivores and enjoy a variety of plants, insects, and eggs. The tenrec is a small mammal endemic (found natively only in one area) to Madagascar.