The mole-like rice tenrec (''Oryzorictes hova''), also known as the fossorial tenrec or hova rice tenrec, is a species of

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

tenrec A tenrec () is a mammal belonging to any species within the afrotherian family Tenrecidae, which is endemic to Madagascar. Tenrecs are a very diverse group, as a result of adaptive radiation, and exhibit convergent evolution, some resemble hed ...

family. Like all other tenrecs, it is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

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 ...

. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist forests, swamps, freshwater lakes, and irrigated or seasonally flooded agricultural land.

Biology

''Oryzorictes hova'' eats invertebrates like worms, and they spend some of their time above ground but mostly stay underground. They can also be found in rice fields. Not much is known about their mating or reproduction, but the most offspring they have is 4. Due to

allopatric speciation Allopatric speciation () – also referred to as geographic speciation, vicariant speciation, or its earlier name the dumbbell model – is a mode of speciation that occurs when biological populations become geographically isolated from ...

, the rice tenrec has been separated into 3 distinct populations across Madagascar. Each of these populations could be considered their own distinct species, but additional data is required for a formal description of the species.

References

Afrosoricida Mammals of Madagascar Mammals described in 1870 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxa named by Alfred Grandidier {{afrosoricida-stub