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Afrosoricida- Family Tenrecidae (tenrecs and otter shrews) - 10 genera and 30 species - Family Chrysochloridae (golden moles) - 9 genera and 21 species Tenrecidae - Madagascar, Comoro islands, w. Central africa (otter shrews) - Fossils known from Mioccene of Africa - Dispersed to Madagascar 55 MYA - Tenrecs retain many ancestral traits: plantigrade, pentdactyl hands and feet; insectivory, large litters, cloaca - Pentdactyl: having five toes/fingers - Males lack scrotum (analogous to elephants) - Echolocation with tongue clicking: for topographic orientation and prey capture - Prolonged courtship, induced ovulation - Shrew - to rabbit sized- Long snout and small eyes - Fur may have spines - Insectivorous or omnivorous - Inhabit rainforests, dry deciduous forest, and deserts in madagascar Tenrec eucaudatus - Common or tailless tenrec- Head-body length 250-400mm, tail length 10-16mm- Mixed spines and hairs, roll into defensive posture - Nest under rocks, in hollow logs, hibernates in tunnel that it plugs during dry season - Solitary except for mother and young - 1 litter/year average litter size is 15 Microgale dobsoni - Dobson’s shrew tenrec - Non-spiny, large tail - Forages on forest floor for invertebrates - Stores body fat, torpid during dry season - Monogamous pair-bonding Hemicentetes semispinosus- Lowland streaked tenrec- Mid-back quills stridulatory- Stridulatory: producing sound by rubbing together certain body parts - Mother-young communication - forest-dweller , retreats to burrows in day, active at night - Eats arthropods, wormsTenrecidae- Subfamily Potamogalinae (otter shrews) - Western and central Africa - Highly specialized for semi-aquatic life - Flat rostrum (snout) with stiff vibrissae- Small eyes and reduced ear pinna - Body long and streamlined - Tail laterally compressed and used for swimming - Limnogale webbed hind feet - Forages in rivers and streams for aquatic insects and crustaceans - Nocturnal - Nimba otter shrew (Micropotamogale lamottei) - Hunts crustaceans, tadpoles along riverbanks Chrysochloridae (golden “moles”)- Fossils date to Miocene of Kenya - Highly fossorial (digging) lifestyle - Ears lack pinnae and ear canal covered with fur - Eyes vestigial (covered with skin and fur)- Leathery snout pad - Skull conical - Differing from marsupial mole - Differ from Talpidae (moles): - Deciduous teeth not lost in utero- Zygomatic arch complete - Tympanic bullae - Feed on legless lizards - Mammae in cup-like thoracic depressions - Forelimbs powerfully built - used for digging - Digits 2 and 3 bear huge claws - Massive malleus used to detect seismic signals: low frequency sounds - Eremitalpa swims through sand forearms, head shoulders - Huge olecranon process of ulna: triceps - Ossified tendon: hand flexors Order Macroscelididea Family Macroscelididae - elephant shrews Macroscelidea - Elephant shrews (or sengis) - 4 genera and 16 species - Fossils date to Eocene of northern Africa - Disjunct distribution across sub-Saharan Africa- Long, mobile nsout - Long, slender legs adapted for unning - Large eyes and prominent ears - Complete auditory bulla - Complete zygoma - Palatal vacuities - Inhabit open plains to tropical forests - Mostly insectivorous - Scent marking (anal and shoulder glands) and foot drumming attract mates to territory - Some species use behavioral thermoregulation (basking) - Cecum (diverticulum of the intestinal tract at the junction of the small and large intestines) is present - Insectivora like trait - W-shaped ectolophs like shrew, hedgehog- Even bigger palatal fenestrae than some marsupials Spectacled Elephant Shrew - Diurnal, large eyes and ears - Monogamous - Breeding pair defends territory - Intricate paths, cleaned regularly Tubulidentata - Single species (Orycteropus afer)- Inhabits sub-Saharan Africa - Fossils appear in Miocene of southen Europe, Middle east, and Africa - Powerful digger - Feeds on termites and ants - Big: adults up to 80kg - Long skull + slender dentary, 30-cm tongue Aardvark- Low metabolic rate and body temp- Great sense of smell:- Extensive nasoturbinals (bony scrolls deep in nasal cavity) - Enlarged olfactory centers - Specialized nostrils, fleshy tentacles and hairs that seal openings Starting slide 34Tubulidentata- Dismantle termite mounds with powerful forelimbs- Slow metabolism- When danger happens for them the ability to burrow is important - Burrows: retreats for hyenas, ground squirrels, monitor lizards, warthogs - For water, eat fruits of cucurbit - Column-shaped teeth - Teeth - Ever-growing - Use to gring down chitin/skeletins of what theyre eating - Formula: 0/0, 0/0, 2/2, 3/2 = 18- Each is rootless, up to 1500 hexagonal prisms - Each prism has slender, tubular pulp


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UWL BIO 488 - Lecture 10

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