Photo: By Joey Makalintal via Wikipedia commons
The Elephant Shrews, or Jumping Shrews are small mammals that live in north west and southern Africa. They are found in both desert and forest environments.
As their name suggests the Elephant Shrew has a long snout that they use to forage for food. The length of the proboscis varies between the species of which there are 19 known ones.
They are extremely quick runners and vary in size between 10cm or 4 inches to around 30cm or 12 inches.
They can live between 2.5 - 4 years of age.
Oddly, Elephant Shrews are not actually Shrews with recent evidence suggesting they are more related to a group of mammals that includes Sea Cows and Aardvarks.
They are insectivorous and are prey to snakes, birds of prey and various carnivores.
For more information on these cute but little known creatures please enjoy the links below:
www.awf.org/wildlife-conservation/elephant-shrew
www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3Y2u80QlRA
By Brendon Crook
The Elephant Shrews, or Jumping Shrews are small mammals that live in north west and southern Africa. They are found in both desert and forest environments.
As their name suggests the Elephant Shrew has a long snout that they use to forage for food. The length of the proboscis varies between the species of which there are 19 known ones.
They are extremely quick runners and vary in size between 10cm or 4 inches to around 30cm or 12 inches.
They can live between 2.5 - 4 years of age.
Oddly, Elephant Shrews are not actually Shrews with recent evidence suggesting they are more related to a group of mammals that includes Sea Cows and Aardvarks.
They are insectivorous and are prey to snakes, birds of prey and various carnivores.
For more information on these cute but little known creatures please enjoy the links below:
www.awf.org/wildlife-conservation/elephant-shrew
www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3Y2u80QlRA
By Brendon Crook
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