Sengis

The Sengis (Elephant Shrews) comprise 3 genera and 10 spp in s Afr.
A few other species and genera occur in tropical and north Africa.

Petrodromus Fourtoe Sengis (1 - 11 sp or ssp)
Petrodromus tetradactylus Fourtoe Sengi (6 of 9 ssp in region - fur colour and hairs on tail)

  • 4 toes on hind feet
  • hallax absent
  • larger (> 160 mm head-body)
  • mammae 2 prs pectoral

Macroscelides Roundear Sengis
(3 sp or 3 ssp of M. falvicaudatus)

  • auditory bullae enormously inflated (and visible as round swellings at back of skull)
  • upper incisor 2 & 3 broad and bilobed at tip
  • 5 toes on hind feet
  • smaller (< 160 mm head-body)
  • mammae 3 prs (2 pectoral, 1 inguical)

Elephantulus Typical Sengis
6 sp in s Afr (molar numbers, lingual cusps on molars, ear supratragus shape - a visible feature!, eye rings, foot sole colour)

  • 5 toes on hind feet
  • smaller (< 160 mm head-body)
  • mammae 3 prs
  • auditory bullae normal and not obvious
  • upper incisors all normal
Posted on 03 October, 2022 16:06 by tonyrebelo tonyrebelo

Comments

How do you do the map? Just put the info in the URL?

Posted by karoopixie over 1 year ago

How do I do it?

I use the url
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/map?taxa=

I then go to the species pages and search for the species: e.g.
Fourtoe Sengi = https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/43226-Petrodromus-tetradactylus
so I add 43226, to the url
[actually I go to the genus in the Elephantulus case, and open all the species from the listed children]
& repeat until all taxa are on

then I click on the url to activate it, zoom and pan the map until I am happy (which adds the position text "#6/-26.333/28.602" (the zoom factor plus the central latitude and longitude)) and then copy paste the url.

Which is the long way of saying what you already said. I "just put the info in the URL"

Posted by tonyrebelo over 1 year ago

Brilliant! Thank you :-)

Posted by karoopixie over 1 year ago

Key to the Species of Elephantulus
(expanded from Corbet (1974) )

.1. Pectoral gland present, a naked or short-haired patch in center of thorax .. goto .. 2
.1' Pectoral gland absent .. goto .. 4

.2. Prominent brown mark behind eye; 2 lower molars, that is, 10 lower teeth . .. goto .. 3
.2' No brown mark behind eye; 3 lower molars ... E. fuscipes

.3. Hair of tail becoming long toward the tip, forming a brush; tail about 120% of head and body; I2 equal in size to I1 and I3. ... E. revoili
.3' Hair of tail not forming a brush; tail about equal to head and body; I2 smaller than I1 . ... E. rufescens

.4. Tail shorter than head and body; 3 lower molars, that is, 11 lower teeth ... E. brachyrhynchus
.4' Tail not shorter than head and body; 2 lower molars .. gptp .. 5

.5. P1 with a lingual cusp; P2 molariform, with 2 well-developed lingual cups; ventral pelage superficially white .. goto .. 6
.5' P1 lacking a lingual cusp; P2 sectorial with or without small lingual cusps; ventral pelage showing gray, except in the northern African . .. goto .. 7

.6. Size larger; upper toothrow . 18.7 mm; tail about 115% of head and body, distinctly tufted toward the tip, predominantly black above; white eye-ring narrow, broken above and below the eye; P2 and P3 with 3 cusps, arranged in a triangle, behind the principal cusp ... E. rupestris
.6' Size smaller; upper toothrow , 18.7 mm; tail about 106% of head and body, not distinctly tufted, speckled above; white eyering conspicuous and unbroken; P2 and P3 with only 2 cusps, arranged transversely, behind the principal cusp .... E. intufi

.7. Ectotympanic parts of bullae inflated to same level as entotympanic parts; I2 equal to I1 and I3 (southern Africa) .. goto .. 8
.7' Ectotympanic parts of bullae much less inflated that entotympanic parts; I2 larger than I1 and I3 (northern Africa) ... E. rozeti

.8. P2 with 1, occasionally 2, lingual cusps; supratragus small and fairly thick; premaxillary suture slightly sinuous; tail bicolored throughout its length, yellow-brown above, entirely short-haired .. E. myurus
.8' P2 without a lingual cusp; supratragus large and thin; premaxillary suture straight; tail black above, distal half black all round and slightly tufted ... goto .. 9

.9. Tail less tufted at tip (hairs , 4 mm); dorsal pelage (gray-brown tinged with yellow) separated from gray flanks; ventral pelage pure gray . ... E. edwardii
.9' Tail considerably more tufted toward tip (hairs , 4 mm); dorsal pelage (gray-brown tinged with yellow) extends to flanks; ventral pelage mottled or blotched yellow-gray . ... E. pilicaudus

A NEW SPECIES OF ELEPHANT-SHREW (AFROTHERIA: MACROSCELIDEA: ELEPHANTULUS) FROM SOUTH AFRICA
H. A. SMIT, T. J. ROBINSON,* J. WATSON, AND B. JANSEN VAN VUUREN 2008
Journal of Mammalogy, 89(5):1257–1269, https://sengis.org/pdfs/Smit_et_al_08_JoM.pdf

Posted by tonyrebelo about 1 year ago

Macroscelides, a southwestern African gravel-plain specialist,
Petrodromus from forests with a southern, eastern, and central African distribution,
Elephantulus, found throughout a diverse array of habitats

A NEW SPECIES OF ELEPHANT-SHREW (AFROTHERIA: MACROSCELIDEA: ELEPHANTULUS) FROM SOUTH AFRICA
H. A. SMIT, T. J. ROBINSON,* J. WATSON, AND B. JANSEN VAN VUUREN 2008
Journal of Mammalogy, 89(5):1257–1269, https://sengis.org/pdfs/Smit_et_al_08_JoM.pdf

Posted by tonyrebelo about 1 year ago

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