📸 PhotoPhoto: Damouns · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons Source
Tailless Tenrec
Tenrec ecaudatus (Tailless Tenrec · テンレック)
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 People in Madagascar have used it as a food source since ancient times.
- 💡 When food is scarce during the dry season from May to September (months 5–9), it plugs its burrow entrance with soil and hibernates.
- 💡 A maximum litter of 32 young is slightly more than a tray of eggs (30 eggs) (Comparison).
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 Tailless Tenrec lives in Madagascar and is one of the larger living insectivores.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
Its coat is a mix of hair and blunt spines; young individuals have rows of white spines on their back that turn into a mane of stiff, long hairs in adults.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
It mainly eats invertebrates and also feeds on plants, fruits, and small animals. It gives birth to an average of 18 young per litter, and up to 32.
🇰🇷 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/40595/97204107
- • IUCN Red List category LC — latest assessment at iucnredlist.org
- • mammaldiversity.org — 1000519
- • iucnredlist.org — 97204107
- • wikidata.org — Q852769
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:Tenrec family 2.jpg
- • animaldiversity.org — Tenrec ecaudatus
- • Silhouette: PhyloPic — Yan Wong · CC0 1.0
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.