Microgale

Microgale is a genus of mammal in the family Tenrecidae. There are 21 living species on the island of Madagascar and one extinct species known from a fossil. Some species have been discovered in the last twenty years. On the basis of molecular data indicating that Talazac's shrew tenrec and Dobson's shrew tenrec form a sister group to the rest of Microgale, these two species were transferred from Microgale to Nesogale in 2016. Nesogale and Microgale are estimated to have diverged about 19 million years ago, during the Early Miocene. The web-footed tenrec, M. mergulus, the only semiaquatic member of the genus, was formerly placed in the monotypic genus Limnogale, but was moved in 2016 on the basis of sequence data showing it to be deeply nested within Microgale. Microgale contains the following extant species: *Short-tailed shrew tenrec (M. brevicaudata) G. Grandidier, 1899 *Cowan's shrew tenrec (M. cowani) Thomas, 1882 *Drouhard's shrew tenrec (M. drouhardi) G. Grandidier, 1934 *Dryad shrew tenrec (M. dryas) Jenkins, 1992 *Pale shrew tenrec (M. fotsifotsy) Jenkins, Raxworthy & Nussbaum, 1997 *Gracile shrew tenrec (M. gracilis) (Forsyth Major, 1896) *Grandidier's shrew tenrec (M. grandidieri) Olson et al., 2009 *Naked-nosed shrew tenrec (M. gymnorhyncha) Jenkins et al., 1996 *Jenkins's shrew tenrec (M. jenkinsae) Goodman & Soarimalala, 2004 *Northern shrew tenrec (M.…

Microgale is a genus of mammal in the family Tenrecidae. There are 21 living species on the island of Madagascar and one extinct species known from a fossil. Some species have been discovered in the last twenty years. On the basis of molecular data indicating that Talazac's shrew tenrec and Dobson's shrew tenrec form a sister group to the rest of Microgale, these two species were transferred from Microgale to Nesogale in 2016. Nesogale and Microgale are estimated to have diverged about 19 million years ago, during the Early Miocene. The web-footed tenrec, M. mergulus, the only semiaquatic member of the genus, was formerly placed in the monotypic genus Limnogale, but was moved in 2016 on the basis of sequence data showing it to be deeply nested within Microgale. Microgale contains the following extant species: Short-tailed shrew tenrec (M. brevicaudata) G. Grandidier, 1899 Cowan's shrew tenrec (M. cowani) Thomas, 1882 Drouhard's shrew tenrec (M. drouhardi) G. Grandidier, 1934 Dryad shrew tenrec (M. dryas) Jenkins, 1992 Pale shrew tenrec (M. fotsifotsy) Jenkins, Raxworthy & Nussbaum, 1997 Gracile shrew tenrec (M. gracilis) (Forsyth Major, 1896) Grandidier's shrew tenrec (M. grandidieri) Olson et al., 2009 Naked-nosed shrew tenrec (M. gymnorhyncha) Jenkins et al., 1996 Jenkins's shrew tenrec (M. jenkinsae) Goodman & Soarimalala, 2004 Northern shrew tenrec (M. jobihely) Goodman, Raxworthy, Maminirina & Olson, 2006 Lesser long-tailed shrew tenrec (M. longicaudata) Thomas, 1882 Major's long-tailed tenrec (M. majori) Thomas, 1918 Web-footed tenrec (M. mergulus) (Forsyth Major, 1896) Montane shrew tenrec (M. monticola) Goodman & Jenkins, 1998 Nasolo's shrew tenrec (M. nasoloi) Jenkins & Goodman, 1999 Pygmy shrew tenrec (M. parvula) G. Grandidier, 1934 Greater long-tailed shrew tenrec (M. principula) Thomas, 1926 Least shrew tenrec (M. pusilla) Forsyth Major, 1896 Shrew-toothed shrew tenrec (M. soricoides) Jenkins, 1993 Taiva shrew tenrec (M. taiva) Forsyth Major, 1896 Thomas's shrew tenrec (M. thomasi) Forsyth Major, 1896 Shrew tenrecs converged on the shrew like body plan these animals also share the same diversity as shrews with web footed tenrecs closely resembling water shrews.

Extinct species

Microgale macpheei - subfossil from southeastern Madagascar

References

Text derived from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1282115112 under CC BY-SA 4.0; modifications have been made.