📸 PhotoPhoto: Wilfried Berns www.Tierdoku.com · CC BY-SA 2.0 de · Wikimedia Commons Source
Lesser Hedgehog Tenrec
Echinops telfairi (Lesser Hedgehog Tenrec · Lesser Hedgehog Tenrec)
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 Its maximum body length of 18 cm is about 3/5 of a 30 cm ruler (Comparison). Its maximum weight of 255 g is just over four chicken eggs (about 60 g each) (Comparison).
- 💡 At the Smithsonian's National Zoo, this animal is fed a dry insectivore diet and insects such as mealworms.
Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.
Site-computed relative index from recorded values; not a formal scientific metric.
📖 1. Overview
The Lesser Hedgehog Tenrec is a small tenrec living in the dry regions of southern Madagascar whose body is covered in spines.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
Its spines range from white to black, fine hair covers its paws and belly, and its tail is barely visible.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
An opportunistic hunter, it moves between the ground and trees in search of invertebrates and also eats small animals such as baby mice, resting in dens inside tree hollows.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
No direct record connecting this species to Korea has been found.
📚 Sources & References
- • IUCN Red List LC (2016) — https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/40592/97188634
- • IUCN Red List category LC — latest assessment at iucnredlist.org
- • mammaldiversity.org — 1000515
- • iucnredlist.org — 97188634
- • wikidata.org — Q613836
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:Kleiner-igeltanrek-a.jpg
- • nationalzoo.si.edu — lesser-hedgehog-tenrec
- • Silhouette: PhyloPic — Daniel Stadtmauer · CC0 1.0
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.