Web-footed tenrec

Web-footed tenrec
Conservation status
Vulnerable  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Afrosoricida
Family:	Tenrecidae
Genus:	Limnogale Major, 1896
Species:	L. mergulus
Binomial name
Limnogale mergulus Major, 1896
Web-footed tenrec range

The web-footed tenrec, otter shrew, or aquatic tenrec (Limnogale mergulus) is the only known semiaquatic Malagasy tenrec (the related African otter shrews have similar habits), and is found in eastern Madagascar, especially in and around Ranomafana National Park. It grows to between 25 and 39 cm, and was once thought to be extinct. It feeds on crabs, water insects, and crayfish. It weighs between 40 and 60 grams, and the population is considered vulnerable. It is the only species in the genus Limnogale.

Conservation

Researchers have collected web-footed tenrec scat at 10 sites along streams in eastern Madagascar. Conservationists say too little is known about the species to determine what is threatening it.^[2]

References

• Bronner, G.N.; Jenkins, P.D. (2005). "Order Afrosoricida". In Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M. Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 72. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494. 
• Animal, Smithsonian Institution, 2005
• Insectivore Specialist Group 1996. "Limnogale mergulus". IUCN 2004. 2004 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Retrieved 2006-04-11. 
• Jeremy L. Hance. "LiForgotten species: Madagascar's water-loving mammal, the aquatic tenrec". WildMadagascar.org. <www.wildmadagascar.org>. Retrieved 2010-01-08.