Rufous elephant shrew facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Rufous elephant shrew |
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| Rufous elephant shrew at the Frankfurt Zoological Garden | |
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Galegeeska
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| Species: |
rufescens
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| Rufous elephant shrew range | |
| Synonyms | |
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Elephantulus rufescens |
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The rufous elephant shrew, also known as the rufous sengi or East African long-eared elephant-shrew (Galegeeska rufescens), is a small mammal. It belongs to the elephant shrew family. These animals live in dry savannas and shrublands. You can find them in countries like Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda.
Contents
About the Rufous Elephant Shrew
What's in a Name?
For a long time, this elephant shrew was known as Elephantulus rufescens. However, scientists studied it again in 2021. They found it was actually part of a different group called Galegeeska. This new group was created in 2020 for the Somali elephant shrew. Now, the American Society of Mammalogists agrees with this new classification.
Where They Live
The rufous elephant shrew lives in dry woodlands and grasslands. These areas are found across East Africa.
How They Look
Male and female rufous elephant shrews look very similar. They have a long, flexible snout, like a tiny elephant's trunk! Their tails are dark brown and can be as long as their head and body combined.
Their fur is fine and can be brown, reddish-brown, or buff on their backs. Their bellies are white. The color of their back fur often matches the soil where they live. Adult shrews have white feet, but young ones have brown feet.
They have large eyes with a white ring around them. This ring is broken by a dark patch that goes towards the back of their head. Their ears are also large and do not have fur. Both males and females have a special scent gland on their chest. You can see it because of the short, white hairs around it.
Life and Habits
Daily Life and Trails
Rufous elephant shrews are active during the day. They are busiest around sunrise and sunset. They often take a rest during the hottest part of the day.
These shrews do not build burrows or shelters. Instead, they create and use trails under leaf litter. These trails help them stay safe from predators. Along the trails, they have special rest spots. They use these spots for sunbathing and leaving their scent.
They build and keep their trails clean by pushing aside leaves and other debris with their front feet. Males often spend a lot of time cleaning these foraging trails. Almost all their activities, except finding food, happen within these trails. The trails are very important for escaping danger quickly.
What They Eat
Their diet changes with the seasons. During the dry season, they mostly eat insects. When it rains, they eat more seeds.
Resting and Safety
When rufous elephant shrews rest, they don't seem to close their eyes completely. They might rest with their eyes partly closed for a minute or two. They do this in their rest spots along the trails. They keep their feet tucked under their bodies. This way, they can run away very fast if they hear even a small noise.
Family Life
These shrews are mostly monogamous, meaning a male and female stay together. However, they don't spend much time with each other. They don't interact socially very often. The female of the pair is usually in charge, making it a matriarchal society.
Reproduction and Young
Female rufous elephant shrews usually give birth to one or two babies at a time. They have their young at the base of bushes or near fallen tree branches by their trails. The mother does not stay with her babies. She only nurses them for short periods and not very often.
The young shrews stay in their parents' trails. They learn about their family's territory for up to 14 days after birth. If a young shrew wanders into another family's trails, those shrews will chase it away. Before the next litter of babies is born, the parents will chase away their older young. This makes the older young leave the trails or sometimes they don't survive.
How They Communicate
Young rufous elephant shrews communicate with their parents using scent. They have special glands on the bottom of their feet called pedal glands. Babies less than five days old have been seen "back-rubbing" one of their parents. The parent crouches down, letting the baby climb on its back. The baby then rubs all four feet quickly on the parent's fur.
This back-rubbing helps the baby put its scent from the pedal glands onto the parent's fur. It also helps the baby get the parent's scent onto its own fur. This mix of scents creates a special family smell. This family smell helps them recognize other family members.
