346 THE 1NSECT1VORES 



have no such predecessors. Very late in life, however, a small fourth molar appears 

 in the upper jaw behind the other three. Considering that no other Mammals with 

 teeth divided into distinct series, have four upper molars as. a normal condition, 

 except Marsupials, and one peculiar kind of dog, this is a very remarkable circum- 

 stance. Taken, indeed, in conjunction with the fact that both the tenrec and the 

 carnivorous Marsupials have tritubercular molar teeth, while the skulls of both 

 have certain very remarkable resemblances, this feature in the dentition renders it 

 pretty certain that of all living Mammals the tenrec is the one which is most nearly 

 related to the Marsupials of Australia and America. Further collateral evidence of 

 this relationship is, perhaps, afforded by the circumstance that the tenrec produces 

 a large number of young at a birth ; although in this respect it even exceeds the 

 Marsupials, an instance being recorded when as many as twenty-one young were 

 brought forth at a single birth, fifteen or sixteen being the common number. 



Owing to its strictly nocturnal habits, our acquaintance with the 

 mode of life of the tenrec is by no means so intimate as could be 

 wished. It appears, however, that these animals are chiefly found in the mountains 

 of Madagascar, where they inhabit low covert formed by ferns and bushes. Earth- 

 worms form a large proportion of their diet, which is, however, extensively supple- 

 mented by insects ; and it would seem that the worms and insects are rooted out 

 from their holes and hiding places by the aid of the flexible snout with which the 

 tenrec is furnished. During the cooler season of the year the tenrecs hibernate for 

 a long period, burrowing deep holes in the ground about May or June, from which 

 they do not emerge till the following December. Whether this is to avoid a season 

 of drought, when their natural food is difficult to procure, we are unaware. Like 

 other animals, which enjoy a periodical rest, the tenrecs at the commencement of 

 their hibernation are in a fat condition, and are then much sought after by the 

 natives of Madagascar as an article of food ; the whereabouts of their burrows 

 being usually revealed by the heap of dirt or debris covering the entrance. 



THE STREAKED TENREC 

 Genus Hemicentetes 



The streaked tenrec (Hemicentetes semispinosu s) , together with a second nearly 

 allied species (H. nigriceps), represent a genus distinguished from the preceding by 

 having three, instead of two, upper incisor teeth, and probably only three upper 

 molars; as well as by certain peculiarities in the structure of the skull, and the 

 smaller size of the canine teeth, which are scarcely larger than the incisors, and can- 

 not properly be. termed tusks. 



The streaked tenrec is an animal of about the size of the common mole, and 

 derives its name from the streaks of black and yellow with which the body is 

 ornamented. In this and the allied species the longitudinal rows of spines on the 

 back, which disappear in the adult of the common tenrec, are retained throughout 

 life. 



