1 9 o - THE ANIMALS OF MADAGASCAR 



they differ markedly in the form of their teeth, as well as in many other characters. 

 The stuffed specimens commonly seen in museums give no adequate idea of the 

 form of these strange animals, whose bodies may be compared to those of inflated 

 globe-fish. Perhaps the most peculiar feature about them is the swollen condition 

 of the hinder part of the palate, which is, of course, only seen when they yawn — a 

 habit in which they seem fond of indulging. 



The typical member of the family is the greater tenrec (Centetes eccmdatus), a 

 practically tailless mammal, the males of which measure a little over 16 inches, and 

 are thus the largest of all Insectivora. In both sexes the coat consists of a mixture 

 of flexible spines, bristles, and hairs, the spines in the young being arranged in three 

 lines down the back, while in the adult they are confined to the region of the neck, 

 where they form a kind of collar. As the individual hairs and bristles are banded 

 with brown and yellow, the general colour is a speckled yellowish brown. The 

 males have very long, sharp tusks. Female tenrecs commonly produce as many as 

 fifteen or sixteen young at a birth, and sometimes even twenty or twenty-one. 



Tenrecs generally frequent mountainous districts where there is an abundant 

 growth of ferns, and lead a nocturnal existence, subsisting on worms and insects 

 dug up by means of the long, flexible snout. During the dry season, from May or 

 June to December, when they cannot find suitable food, they burrow in the ground 

 and become torpid. Like other animals which lie dormant for a time, they become 

 very fat at the commencement of the period of repose. 



Somewhat different animals are the striped tenrecs, of which there are two 

 kinds, namely, the typical striped tenrec (Hemicentetes semispinosus) and the 

 black-headed tenrec (H. nigriceps), the former being about the size of a mole, with 

 black and yellow stripes on the back. In both species the longitudinal rows of 

 spines, which are lost in the adult of the common tenrec, persist throughout life. 



The hedgehog-tenrecs (Ericulus) differ by being completely covered with 

 short, stout bristles, and have but two (in place of three) pairs of incisors in each 

 jaw. In appearance they resemble a young hedgehog. The typical species, 

 E. setosus, is about two-thirds the size of a hedgehog; but Telfair's tenrec 

 (E. telfairi) is considerably smaller, and has only thirty-four in place of thirty- 

 six teeth, owing to the loss of one pair of premolars. 



Of a totally different type are the long-tailed tenrecs, as typified by Microgcde 

 longicaudata, which are mouse-like animals with exceedingly long tails and the 

 fur free from spines. In the species named the tail is double the length of the 

 bod}- — a condition paralleled in the case of the long-tailed pangolin. The rice- 

 tenrecs, as exemplified by the four-toed Oryzorictes tetradactylus, on the other 

 hand, are moi-e like moles in appearance and habits, having short tails and leading 

 a subterranean existence. They take their name from the damage they do to the 

 rice-fields. From the typical species the Hova rice-tenrec (0. hova) differs by 

 having five front toes. The imperfectly known Geogcde is believed to be a small 

 relative of the otter-shrews of equatorial Africa ; and there is one species of musk- 

 shrew (Grocidura) in the island. 



One of the most noteworthy features in connection with the 



BRts 



Malagasy representatives of this order is the presence in the island of 

 true flying-foxes of the typical genus Pteropus, which, as we have seen, are totally 



