''Microgale'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

mammal A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three ...

in the family Tenrecidae. There are 21 living species on the island of

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

and one extinct species known from a fossil. Some species have been discovered in the last twenty years. On the basis of molecular data indicating that Talazac's shrew tenrec and Dobson's shrew tenrec form a

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 ...

to the rest of ''Microgale'', these two species were transferred from ''Microgale'' to '' Nesogale'' in 2016. ''Nesogale'' and ''Microgale'' are estimated to have diverged about 19 million years ago, during the

Early Miocene The Early Miocene (also known as Lower Miocene) is a sub-epoch of the Miocene epoch (geology), Epoch made up of two faunal stage, stages: the Aquitanian age, Aquitanian and Burdigalian stages. The sub-epoch lasted from 23.03 ± 0.05 annum, Ma to ...

. The web-footed tenrec, ''M. mergulus'', the only

semiaquatic In biology, being semi-aquatic refers to various macroorganisms that live regularly in both aquatic and terrestrial environments. When referring to animals, the term describes those that actively spend part of their daily time in water (in ...

member of the genus, was formerly placed in the

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

genus ''Limnogale'', but was moved in 2016 on the basis of sequence data showing it to be deeply nested within ''Microgale''. ''Microgale'' contains the following extant species: * Short-tailed shrew tenrec (''M. brevicaudata'') G. Grandidier, 1899 * Cowan's shrew tenrec (''M. cowani'')

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

, 1882 * Drouhard's shrew tenrec (''M. drouhardi'') G. Grandidier, 1934 * Dryad shrew tenrec (''M. dryas'') Jenkins, 1992 * Pale shrew tenrec (''M. fotsifotsy'') Jenkins, Raxworthy & Nussbaum, 1997 * Gracile shrew tenrec (''M. gracilis'') ( Forsyth Major, 1896) * Grandidier's shrew tenrec (''M. grandidieri'') Olson et al., 2009 *

Naked-nosed shrew tenrec The naked-nosed shrew tenrec (''Microgale gymnorhyncha'') is a species of mammal in the family Tenrecidae. It is endemic to Madagascar. Its natural habitats are subtropical and tropical subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, moist lowland ...

(''M. gymnorhyncha'') Jenkins et al., 1996 * Jenkins's shrew tenrec (''M. jenkinsae'') Goodman & Soarimalala, 2004 * Northern shrew tenrec (''M. jobihely'') Goodman, Raxworthy, Maminirina & Olson, 2006 * Lesser long-tailed shrew tenrec (''M. longicaudata'')

, 1882 * Major's long-tailed tenrec (''M. majori'')

, 1918 * Web-footed tenrec (''M. mergulus'') ( Forsyth Major, 1896) * Montane shrew tenrec (''M. monticola'') Goodman & Jenkins, 1998 * Nasolo's shrew tenrec (''M. nasoloi'') Jenkins & Goodman, 1999 * Pygmy shrew tenrec (''M. parvula'') G. Grandidier, 1934 * Greater long-tailed shrew tenrec (''M. principula'')

, 1926 * Least shrew tenrec (''M. pusilla'') Forsyth Major, 1896 * Shrew-toothed shrew tenrec (''M. soricoides'') Jenkins, 1993 * Taiva shrew tenrec (''M. taiva'') Forsyth Major, 1896 * Thomas's shrew tenrec (''M. thomasi'') Forsyth Major, 1896 Shrew tenrecs converged on the shrew like body plan these animals also share the same diversity as shrews with web footed tenrecs closely resembling water shrews.

Extinct species

*'' Microgale macpheei'' -

subfossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

from southeastern

References

* Afrosoricida Mammal genera Taxa named by Oldfield Thomas Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{afrosoricida-stub