A small tenrec, and the only one that lives in the water, the hind feet are webbed, and the tail flattened (to aid swimming). The pelage is dense and soft (no spines), the upperparts and head being brownish (with red and black guard hairs poking through). (Garbutt, 1999)
They may be trapped in the streams at night, but are very difficult to find otherwise.
Head/Body Length |
12-17cm |
|---|---|
Tail Length |
12-16cm |
Weight |
60-90g |
A carnivore, feeding primarily on frogs, small fish, crustaceans and aquatic insect larvae.
They are nocturnal.
They sleep in burrows beside a stream.
Breeding takes place between December and January. Litter size is around 3.
Mammalia -> Insectivora -> Tenrecidae (Oryzorictinae) -> Limnogale mergulus
Garbutt, N. 1999, Mammals of Madagascar, Yale University Press
IUCN Conservation Monitoring Centre, viewed in July 2000, "Threatened Animals of the World", IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals
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