File:Rhynchocyon_petersi_from_side.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Macroscelididae
Sign in to saveAlso known as elephant shrews, jumping shrews, sengis
family of mammals
OverviewAI-generated
Macroscelididae is a family of mammals within the order Macroscelidea, class Mammalia, phylum Chordata, and kingdom Animalia. The group is also referred to by common names including прыгунчики, прыгунчиковые, слоновые землеройки, and bércouni. These animals are described as insectivorous mammals native to Africa, characterized by long, elephant-like noses.
The family is widely distributed across southern Africa, ranging from the Namib Desert to South Africa and dense forests. The North African elephant shrew inhabits semi-arid and mountainous regions in northwestern Africa. Recorded occurrences have been documented in South Africa, Tunisia, and Zaire. The taxon has been described in the Encyclopædia Britannica 11th edition and is included on the Wikipedia Vital Articles list at Level 4.
Synthesized by Vinony from 27 facts across 6 sources: Wikidata, GBIF, Gbif Occ, Encyclopedia of Life, iDigBio, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Species
Macroscelididae
FAMILY
- KingdomAnimalia
- PhylumChordata
- ClassMammalia
- OrderMacroscelidea
- FamilyMacroscelididae
象鼩是一類非洲原住的食蟲哺乳動物，屬於象鼩目（Macroscelidea）。牠們有著很像象的長鼻。牠們廣泛分佈在南部非洲，由納米比沙漠至南非及大森林中都有。其中的北非象鼩則生活在非洲西北部半乾旱及多山的地區中。
via GBIF
Museum specimens
- Specimen records
- 65
- Family
- Macroscelididae
- Collections
- UCMP, TTU, AMNH, CUMV
- Recorded in
- South Africa, Tunisia, Zaire
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- taxon
- Parent taxon
- Macroscelidea
- Image
- Macroscelides. proboscideus.6869.jpg
Show 8 more facts
- taxon rank
- family
- Commons category
- Macroscelididae
- taxon name
- Macroscelididae
- topic's main category
- Category:Macroscelididae
- Commons gallery
- Macroscelididae
- taxon common name
- murgañu elefante
- on focus list of Wikimedia project
- Wikipedia:Vital articles/Level/4
- described by source
- Encyclopædia Britannica 11th edition
Sources (2)
via Wikidata · CC0
~10 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Elephant shrews, also called jumping shrews or sengis, are small insectivorous mammals native to Africa, belonging to the family Macroscelididae, in the order Macroscelidea. Their traditional common English name "elephant shrew" comes from a perceived resemblance between their long noses and the trunk of an elephant, and their superficial similarity with shrews (family Soricidae) in the order Eulipotyphla. However, phylogenetic analysis has revealed that elephant shrews are not properly classified with true shrews, but are in fact more closely related to elephants than to shrews. In 1997, the biologist Jonathan Kingdon proposed that they instead be called "sengis" (singular sengi), a term derived from the Bantu languages of Africa, and in 1998, they were classified into the new clade Afrotheria.
R. petersi skeleton, Museum of Osteology Eastern rock elephant shrew, Elephantulus myurus, South Africa Bushveld elephant shrew, E. intufi, Namibia
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Macroscelididae” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.