THE ELEPHANT SHREW. 



THE elongation of the nose, which has already been noticed in the Tupaias of Sumatra, 

 seems to have reached its utmost limit in those curious inhabitants of the Cape that are 

 called, from their elephantine elongation of nose, the ELEPHANT SHREWS. Several species 

 of Elephant Shrews are known to exist, all of which, with one exception, are inhabitants 

 of Southern Africa. The solitary exception, Macroscelides Roretti, is found in Algeria. 



The peculiarly long nose of the Elephant Shrew is perforated at its extremity by the 

 the nostrils, which are rather obliquely placed, and is supposed to aid the animals in 

 its search after the insects and other creatures on which it feeds. The eyes are rather 

 large in proportion to the size of the animal. 



The tail is long and slender, much resembling the same organ in the common mouse, 

 and in some specimens, probably males, is furnished at the base with glandular follicles, 

 or little sacs. The legs are nearly of equal size, but the hinder limbs are much longer 

 than the fore-legs, on account of the very great length of the feet, which are capable of 

 affording support to the creature as it sits in an upright position. As might be pre- 



ELEPHANT SHREW. -Macroscelides Proboscldeus. 



sumed from the great length of the hinder limbs, the Elephant Shrew is possessed of 

 great locomotive powers, and when alarmed, can skim over the ground with such celerity 

 that its form becomes quite obscured by the rapidity of its movement through the 

 air. Its food consists of insects, which it captures in open day. 



Although the Elephant Shrew is a diurnal animal, seeking its prey in broad daylight, 

 its habitation is made below the surface of the ground, and consists of a deep and 

 tortuous burrow, the entrance to which is a perpendicularly-sunk shaft of some little 

 depth. To this place of refuge the creature always flies when alarmed, and as it is so 

 exceedingly swift in its movements, it is not readily captured or intercepted. 



The color of the fur is a dark and rather cloudy brown, which is warmed with a 

 reddish tinge upon the sides and flanks, and fades on the abdomen and inner portions 

 of the limbs into a grayish-white. The generic name Macroscelides, is of Greek origin, 

 in allusion to the great length of its hinder limbs, and signifies " long-legged." It is 

 but a small animal, as the length of the head and body is not quite four inches in 

 measurement, and the tale is about three inches and a quarter. 



