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Otter-shrew
Potamogalidae is the family of "otter shrews", a group of semiaquatic riverine afrotherian mammals indigenous to sub-Saharan Africa. They are most closely related to the tenrecs of Madagascar, from which they are thought to have split about 47–53 million years ago. They were formerly considered a subfamily of Tenrecidae. All otter shrews are carnivorous, preying on any aquatic animal they can find with their sensitive whiskers, particularly insects. As their common name suggests, they bear a strong, but superficial resemblance to true otters to which they are not closely related, nor are they closely related to true shrews. They move through the water by undulating their tail in a side-to-side motion similar to the motions made by a crocodile swimming. Morphology Otter shrews have small eyes and ears, consistent with the features of nearly all shrews. They have a broad, flat, muzzle that is substantially covered with sensitive whiskers and ends in a leathery pad. The margins ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Giant Otter Shrew
The giant otter shrew (''Potamogale velox'') is a semiaquatic, carnivorous afrotherian mammal. It is found in the main rainforest block of central Africa from Nigeria to Zambia, with a few isolated populations in Kenya and Uganda. It lives in streams, wetlands and slow flowing larger rivers. It is the Monotypic taxon, only species in the genus ''Potamogale''. Otter shrews are most closely related to the tenrecs of Madagascar. They are nocturnal carnivores that feed on aquatic animals. Despite its name, the giant otter shrew is neither a true shrew (Soricidae) or otter (Lutrinae). The common name refers to their resemblance to otters with their flat face, stiff whiskers, and muscular tails, and to their overall superficial similarity to true shrews. Description The giant otter shrew is a mammal superficially similar to an otter in appearance. It is characterized by a long, flat tail, which it uses for swimming by sideways undulation like a fish. It has a muzzle covered with brist ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sister Group
In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree. Definition The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram: Taxon A and taxon B are sister groups to each other. Taxa A and B, together with any other extant or extinct descendants of their most recent common ancestor (MRCA), form a monophyletic group, the clade AB. Clade AB and taxon C are also sister groups. Taxa A, B, and C, together with all other descendants of their MRCA form the clade ABC. The whole clade ABC is itself a subtree of a larger tree which offers yet more sister group relationships, both among the leaves and among larger, more deeply rooted clades. The tree structure shown connects through its root to the rest of the universal tree of life. In cladistic standards, taxa A, B, and C may represent specimens, species, genera, or any other taxonomic units. If A and B are at the same taxono ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tenrecomorpha
Tenrecomorpha is the suborder of otter shrews and tenrecs, a group of afrotherian mammals indigenous to equatorial Africa and Madagascar, respectively. The two families are thought to have split about 47–53 million years ago. Potamogalidae, Potamogalid otter shrews were formerly considered a subfamily of Tenrecidae. The suborder is also presumed to contain the extinct genus ''Plesiorycteropus'', a group of possibly fossorial insectivores similar to aardvarks, which is known to be more closely related to tenrecs of subfamily Tenrecinae than to golden moles of suborder Chrysochloridea. Otter shrews are carnivorous and semiaquatic, preying on any aquatic animal they can find with their sensitive whiskers. All tenrecs are believed to descend from a common ancestor that lived 29–37 million years (Ma) ago after Oceanic dispersal, rafting from Africa to Madagascar in a single event. Tenrecs are widely diverse; as a result of convergent evolution they resemble hedgehogs, shrews, oposs ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Animal Kingdom, Arranged According To Its Organization, Serving As A Foundation For The Natural History Of Animals (Pl
''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the most frequently used word in the English language; studies and analyses of texts have found it to account for seven percent of all printed English-language words. It is derived from gendered articles in Old English which combined in Middle English and now has a single form used with nouns of any gender. The word can be used with both singular and plural nouns, and with a noun that starts with any letter. This is different from many other languages, which have different forms of the definite article for different genders or numbers. Pronunciation In most dialects, "the" is pronounced as (with the voiced dental fricative followed by a schwa) when followed by a consonant sound, and as (homophone of the archaic pronoun ''thee'') ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chrysochloridae
Golden moles are small insectivorous burrowing mammals Endemism, endemic to Sub-Saharan Africa. They comprise the family Chrysochloridae (the only family in the suborder Chrysochloridea) and as such they are Taxonomy (biology), taxonomically distinct from the mole (animal), true moles, family Talpidae, and other Mole (animal), mole-like families, all of which, to various degrees, they resemble as a result of Convergent evolution, evolutionary convergence. There are 21 species. Some (e.g., ''Chrysochloris asiatica'', ''Amblysomus hottentotus'') are relatively common, whereas others (e.g., species of ''Chrysospalax'', ''Cryptochloris'', ''Neamblysomus'') are rare and endangered. Taxonomy Despite their extreme evolutionary convergence with moles, their closest relatives are the Potamogalidae, otter shrews and Tenrec, tenrecs. They are more distantly related to other insectivorous African mammals such as Aardvark, aardvarks and Elephant shrew, elephant shrews, and even more distant ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Afrosoricida
The clade Afrosoricida (a Latin-Greek compound name which means "looking like African shrews") contains the golden moles of Southern Africa, the otter shrews of equatorial Africa and the tenrecs of Madagascar. These three groups of small mammals were for most of the 19th and 20th centuries regarded as a part of the Insectivora or Lipotyphla, but both of those groups, as traditionally used, are polyphyletic. Naming Some biologists use Tenrecoidea or Tenrecomorpha as the name for the tenrec-golden mole clade and regard Afrosoricida as a junior synonym (even though the rules of the ICZN do not apply above the Linnean rank of family). This is based on the principles of Simpson, summarized by Asher & Helgen to mean that "priority and stability should comprise the overriding principles by which new, high-level taxa are named. Established names for any given clade should not be altered unless the name with precedent unambiguously threatens stability." When "Afrosoricida" was first nam ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rhynchocyon Chrysopygus-J Smit White Background
''Rhynchocyon'' is a genus of elephant shrew (or sengi) in the family Macroscelididae. Members of this genus are known colloquially as giant sengis. They are a ground-dwelling mammal, significantly larger than their relatives in the order Macroscelidea that live primarily in dense forests across eastern Africa. Habitats range from eastern Africa's coastal forests, Rift Valley highlands, and the Congo basin. The species is widely threatened, with two of four assessed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species. Habitat fragmentation from the growth of human settlements and activities are the primary threats to their populations. The genus contains the following five species and several subspecies: *Golden-rumped sengi, ''Rhynchocyon chrysopygus'' **''Rhynchocyon chrysopygus mandelai'' *Chequered sengi, ''Rhynchocyon cirnei'' **''Rhynchocyon cirnei shirensis'' **''Rhynchocyon cirnei reichardi'' **''Rhynchocyon cirnei hendersoni'' **''Rhyn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Macroscelidea
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. They are widely distributed across the southern part of Africa, and although common nowhere, can be found in almost any type of habitat, from the Namib Desert to boulder-strewn out ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Afroinsectivora
Afroinsectivora is a clade of mammals that includes the macroscelideans and afrosoricidans.. Retrieved September 2017. This clade includes the elephant shrews, golden moles, tenrecs, and otter shrews. Phylogeny Classification * Clade Afroinsectivora ** Order Macroscelidea *** Family Macroscelididae ** Order Afrosoricida *** Family Chrysochloridae *** Family Tenrecidae ***Family Potamogalidae *** Genus †''Widanelfarasia ''Widanelfarasia'' is an extinct genus of placental mammals known from the Late Eocene Jebel Qatrani Formation of Egypt. Two species are known: ''W. bowni'' and the smaller ''W. rasmusseni''. Described in 2000 by E. R. Seiffert and Elwyn L. Simo ...''? Notes References * Afroinsectiphilia Mammal unranked clades {{Mammal-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aardvark2 (PSF) Colourised
Aardvarks ( ; ''Orycteropus afer'') are medium-sized, burrowing, nocturnal mammals native to Africa. Aardvarks are the only living species of the family Orycteropodidae and the order Tubulidentata. They have a long proboscis, similar to a pig's snout, which is used to sniff out food. They are afrotheres, a clade that also includes elephants, manatees, and hyraxes. They are found over much of the southern two-thirds of the African continent, avoiding areas that are mainly rocky. Nocturnal feeders, aardvarks subsist on ants and termites by using their sharp claws and powerful legs to dig the insects out of their hills. Aardvarks also dig to create burrows in which to live and rear their young. Name and taxonomy Name The aardvark is sometimes colloquially called the "African ant bear", "anteater" (not to be confused with the South American anteaters), or the "Cape anteater" after the Cape of Good Hope. The name "aardvark" is Afrikaans () and comes from earlier Afrikaans . ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
