Checkered Elephant Shrew Facts

Checkered elephant shrews, rhynchocyon cirnei, are one of the largest of the elephant shrews. They have a head and body length of 9 to 12 inches (23 to 30.5 centimeters), with their tails adding an additional 7 to 10 inches (18 to 25.5 centimeters) of length. They aren’t particularly heavy, weighing only 14.5 to 19.5 ounces (410 to 550 grams). As their name implies, checkered elephant shrews not only have checkered patterns on their backs with alternating chestnut and off-white colors, but they also have elongated noses. They stand in a hunchback posture due to the fact that their hind legs are longer than their forelimbs.

Checkered elephant shrews can be found only in central and southeast Africa. They prefer to inhabit lowland and montane tropical rainforests, although they can adapt to a variety of other habitats such as bush lands and grasslands to name a couple. Checkered elephant shrews live in pairs or small groups and are mostly active during the day, resting in nests constructed from a shallow depression and some leaves. Adult pairs defend their territory separately, with males chasing off other males and females forcing other females to leave. Checkered elephant shrews communicate with each other vocally, and through scent signals.

The diet of elephant shrews consists mainly of invertebrates such as termites, beetles, earthworms, centipedes and their larvae. They will however, also eat mollusks, birds, bird eggs, amphibians and small mammals from time to time. Their long noses are great for detecting both predators and prey. Predators that checkered elephant shrews must look out for include snakes and birds of prey. When a predator has been spotted, checkered elephant shrews will tail-wrap the ground, foot drum, or use vocals in order to alert other members of the group.

Breeding season for checkered elephant shrews can take place throughout the year. In fact, females will often give birth 4 to 5 times a year. It is believed that females give birth to anywhere from 1 to 3 offspring after a gestation period of around 42 days. The young checkered elephant shrews are nursed for about 2 weeks, with mothers sometimes gestating while they nurse. After anywhere from 5 to 10 weeks, the young ones will become independent and try to establish their own territory. They will only leave their parents after they have found both a territory and a mate. It is unknown how long checkered elephant shrews live, although it is thought to be somewhere around 4 to 5 years.

Checkered elephant shrews are a threatened species, although not enough research has been done to determine exactly how threatened they are. Loss of habitat is the greatest threat facing them. Hopefully, something can be done to help checkered elephant shrews bounce back from their decline. After all, such a small and unique species (They are not even really true shrews, but are more closely related to aardvarks, golden moles, and tenrecs.) deserves to live and prosper far into the future.

Works Cited

“Elephant Shrew” 5 April 2011

“Rhynchocyon Cirnei” 5 April 2011