Senġi

Is-Senġijiet  huma mammiferi insettivori Afrikani ta' daqs żgħir. Dawn jagħmlu parti mill-familja Macroscelididae, fl-ordni Macroscelidea. L-isem senġi gej minn lingwi Bantu Afrikani).

Huma mifruxin sew miż-żona subsaħarjana lejn in-nofsinhar tal-Afrika u għalkemm m' huma komuni imkien, kważi tista' issibhom f' kull tip ta' ambjent; mid-deżert tan-Namibja, għall-foresti tal-Afrika ta' isfel. Is-Senġi tal-Afrika ta' Fuq kif jghid l-isem komuni tiegħu huwa l-unika speċi li jgħix fl-ambjent xott tal-pajjiżi fil-Majjistral tal-kontinent Afrikan.

Deskrizzjoni

It-18-il speċi jvarjaw fid-daqs bejn wieħed u ieħor minn 100 millimetru sa ftit aktar minn 300 millimetru u jiżnu minn ftit anqas minn 50 gramma għal ftit aktar minn 700 gramma. Kollha kemm huma jimxu fuq erba' saqajn li huma pjuttost twal għal ġisimhom u għalkemm it-tul ta' mnieħirhom ivarja minn speċi għall-ohra, kollha kapaċi jilwu t-tromba jew il-proboxxidi 'l hemm u 'l hawn waqt it-tfittxija għall-ikel.

Dieta

Il-parti l-kbira tad-dieta tagħhom tikkonsisti minn insetti, dud u brimb li jsibu mal-art qalb il-weraq.

Klassifikazzjoni
Fil-passat is-senġijiet kienu, ikklassifikati fl-ordni Insectivora flimkien mal-ġriedem ta' geddumhom twil u l-qniefed, ikkunsidrati bħala relatati fil-bogħod mal-Ungulati, miġburin fi grupp flimkien mat-tupaji u meqjusin parti mill-ordni Lagomorpha mal-fniek, liebri u l-piki. Madankollu, evidenzi molekolari reċenti, b' saħħa jissapportjaw is-superordni Afrotheria li jaqqagħad flimkien, it-tenreki u t-talpi dehbin ma' ċerti ungulati jew mammiferi li xi darba kienu meqjusin ungulati li jinkludu l-iraċi, l-iljunfanti, il-baqar tal-baħar u l-oritteropi, kif ukoll is-senġijiet.

Instabu numru ta' speċijiet fossili, kollha kemm huma mil-kontinent Afrikan. Uħud, bħal Myohyrax, tant kienu simili tal-iraċi li għal bidu kienu identifikati ħażin bħala tali, filwaqt li oħrajn, bħal pereżempju Mylomygale kienu relativament qishom gerriema. Dawn il-forom kienu kollha estinti sal-Plejstoċen. 

Senġijiet hemm madwar 19-il speċi mqasmin ma' 4 ġeneri u 1 minnhom huwa monotipiku.

 Ordni Macroscelidea
 Familja Macroscelididae
 Sottofamilja Macroscelidinae
 Ġeneru Elephantulus
 Senġi ta' wiċċu qasir, Elephantulus brachyrhynchus
 Senġi ta' Kap, Elephantulus edwardii
 Senġi ta' saqajħ skuri, Elephantulus fuscipes
 Senġi skur, Elephantulus fuscus
 Senġi tal-buxxveld, Elephantulus intufi
 Senġi tal-blat tal-Lvant, Elephantulus myurus
 Senġi tal-blat tal-Karù, Elephantulus pilicaudus
 Senġi tas-Somalja, Elephantulus revoili
 Senġi tal-Afrika ta' Fuq, Elephantulus rozeti
 Senġi ħamrani, Elephantulus rufescens
 Senġi tal-blat tal-Punent, Elephantulus rupestris
 Ġeneru Macroscelides
 Senġi ta' widnejħ tondi tan-Namib, Macroscelides flavicaudatus
 Senġi ta' widnejħ tondi ta' Etendeka, Macroscelides micus
 Senġi ta' widnejħ tondi tal-Karù, Macroscelides proboscideus
 Ġeneru Petrodromus
 Senġi ta' erbat iswaba, Petrodromus tetradactylus
Sottofamilja Rhynchocyoninae 
 Ġeneru Rhynchocyon
 Senġi ta' taħt dahru dehebi, Rhynchocyon chrysopygus
 Senġi ċċangjat, Rhynchocyon cirnei
 Senġi iswed u aħmar, Rhynchocyon petersi
 Senġi ta' wiċċu griż. Rhynchocyon udzungwensis

Referenzi
Schlitter, Duane A. (November 16, 2005). Wilson, D. E., and Reeder, D. M. (eds) Mammal Species of the World, 3rd edition, Johns Hopkins University Press, 82-85.
Murata Y, Nikaido M, Sasaki T, Cao Y, Fukumoto Y, Hasegawa M, Okada N. Afrotherian phylogeny as inferred from complete mitochondrial genomes.  Mol Phylogenet Evol. 2003 Aug;28(2):253-60. 
Murphy WJ, Eizirik E, Johnson WE, Zhang YP, Ryder OA, O'Brien SJ. Molecular phylogenetics and the origins of placental mammals. Nature. 2001 Feb 1;409(6820):614-8.
Tabuce R, Marivaux L, Adaci M, Bensalah M, Hartenberger JL, Mahboubi M, Mebrouk F, Tafforeau P, Jaeger JJ.  Early Tertiary mammals from North Africa reinforce the molecular Afrotheria clade.  Proc Biol Sci. 2007 May 7;274(1614):1159-66.
Andanje, S., B. R. Agwanda, G. W. Ngaruiya, R. Amin, and G. B. Rathbun. 2010. Sengi (elephant-shrew) observations from northern coastal Kenya. Journal of East African Natural History 99:1-8. 
Butler, P. M. 1995. Fossil Macroscelidea. Mammal Review 25:3-14. 
Corbet, G. B., and J. Hanks. 1968. A revision of the elephant-shrews, Family Macroscelididae. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History), Zoology 16:47-111. 
Douady, C. J., F. Catzeflis, J. Raman, M. S. Springer, and M. J. Stanhope. 2003. The Sahara as a vicariant agent, and the role of Miocene climatic events, in the diversification of the mammalian order Macroscelidea (elephant shrews). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 100:8325-8330.
Dumbacher, J. P., G. B. Rathbun, T. O. Osborne, M. Griffin, and S. J. Eiseb. 2014. A new species of round-eared sengi (genus Macroscelides) from Namibia. Journal of Mammalogy 95:443-454.
Evans, F.G. 1942. The osteology and relationships of the elephant-shrews (Macrosclididae). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 80:85-125. 
FitzGibbon, C. D. 1995. Comparative ecology of two elephant-shrew species in a Kenyan coastal forest. Mammal Review 25:19-30. 
Fourie, L. J., J. S. Du Toit, D. J. Kok, and I. G. Horak. 1995. Arthropod parasites of elephant-shrews, with particular reference to ticks. Mammal Review 25:31-37. 
Grossman, A., and P. A. Holroyd. 2009. Miosengi butleri, gen. et sp. nov., (Marcoscelidea) from the Kalodirr Member, Lothidok Formation, early Miocene of Kenya. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 29:957-960. 
Hedges, S. B. 2001. Afrotheria: Plate tectonics meets genomics. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 98:1-2. 
Holroyd, P.A. 2010. Macroscelidea. In Sanders, W.J. and Werdelin, L. (eds.), Cenozoic Mammals of Africa. University of California Press, Berkeley, CA, USA. 
Horst, C. J. van der. 1946. Some remarks on the biology of reproduction in the female of Elephantulus, the holy animal of set. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Africa 31:181-199. 
Kerley, G.I.H. 1995. The round-eared elephant-shrew (Macroscelides proboscideus) as an omnivore. Mammal Review 25:39-44. 
Lovegrove, B.G., J. Raman, and M.R. Perrin. 2001. Daily torpor in elephant shrews (Macroscelidae: Elephantulus spp.) in response to food deprivation. Journal of Comparitive Physiology Series B 171:11-21. 
Neal, B.R. 1995. The ecology and reproduction of the short-nosed elephant-shrew, Elephantulus brachyrhynchus, in Zimbabwe with a review of the reproductive ecology of the genus Elephantulus. Mammal Review 25:51-60. 
Nicoll, M. E., and G. B. Rathbun. 1990. African Insectivora and Elephant-shrews, an Action Plan for their Conservation [20 MB PDF]. International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), Gland, Switzerland. 
Olbricht, G. 2008. Aspects of the reproductive biology of sengis (Macroscelidea) in general and the postnatal development of the short-eared sengi (Macroscelides proboscideus) in particular. Dissertation. University of Duisburg-Essen, Duisburg, Germany. 
Oxenham, K. H., and M. Perrin. 2009. The spatial organization of the four-toed elephant-shrew (Petrodromus tetradactylus) in Tembe Elephant Park, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. African Zoology 44:171-180.
Perrin, M.R. 1995a. Comparative aspects of the metabolism and thermal biology of elephant-shrews (Macroscelidea). Mammal Review 25:61-78. 
Perrin, M. R. (editor). 1995b. The Biology of Elephant-shrews - A Symposium Held During the 6th International Theriological Congress, Sydney, 5 July 1993. Mammal Review, Vol. 25, No. 1 and 2. 100 pp. 
Patterson, B. 1965. The fossil elephant-shrews (Family Macroscelididae). Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard 133:295-335. 
Rathbun, G. B. 1979. The social structure and ecology of elephant-shrews [21 MB PDF file]. Zeitschrift fur Tierpsychologie Suppl. 20:1-77. 
Rathbun, G. B. 2009. Why is there discordant diversity in sengi (Mammalia: Afrotheria: Macroscelidea) taxonomy and ecology? African Journal of Ecology 47:1-13. 
Rathbun, G.B. and S. Kyalo. 2000. Golden-rumped elepant-shrew. Pp 125-129, 340-341 in R.P. Reading and B.J. Miller (eds.). Endangered animals -- conflicting issues. Greeenwood Press, Westport, Connecticut. 388 pp. 
Rovero, F., G. B. Rathbun, A. Perkin, T. Jones, D. O. Ribble, C. Leonard, R. R. Mwakisoma, and N. Doggart. 2008. A new species of giant sengi or elephant-shrew (genus Rhynchocyon) highlights the exceptional biodiversity of the Udzungwa Mountains of Tanzania. Journal of Zoology 274:126-133 
Sauer, E. G. F. 1973. Zum sozialverhalten der kurzohrigen elefantenspitzmaus, Macroscelides proboscideus. Zeitschrift fur Saugetierkunde 38:65-97. 
Schubert, M., C. Schradin, H. G. Rodel, N. Pillay, and D. Ribble. 2009. Male mate guarding in a socially monogamous mammal, the round-eared sengi: on costs and trade-offs. Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology 64:257-264. 
Seiffert, E. R. 2007. A new estimate of afrotherian phylogeny based on simultaneous analysis of genomic, morphological, and fossil evidence. BMC Evolutionary Biology 7:224:13 pp. 
Smit, H. A., T. J. Robinson, J. Watson, and B. Jansen van Vuuren. 2008. A new species of elephant-shrew (Afrotheria: Macroscelidea: Elephantulus) from South Africa. Journal of Mammalogy 89:1257-1269. 
Spinks, A. C., and M. R. Perrin. 1995. The digestive tract of Macroscelides proboscideus and the effects of diet quality on gut dimensions. South African Journal of Zoology 30:33-36. 
Springer, M. S., M. J. Stanhope, O. Madsen, and W. W. De Jong. 2004. Molecules consolidate the placental mammal tree. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 19:430-438. 
Tripp, H.R.H. 1971. Reproduction in elephant-shrews (Macroscelididae) with special reference to ovulation and implantation. Journal of Reproduction and Fertility 26:149-159. 
Woodall, P. F. 1995. The male reproductive system and the phylogeny of elephant-shrews (Macroscelidea). Mammal Review 25:87-93. 
Woodall, P. F., and G. J. Currie. 1989. Food consumption, assimilation and rate of food passage in the Cape Rock Elephant Shrew, Elephantulus edwardii (Macroscelidea, Macroscelidinae). Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology 92A:75-79.

Ħoloq esterni
Vidjo fuq BBC.
Senġi: Taqsira mill-Fondazzjoni Afrikana tal-Ħajja Selvaġġa u r-Rettili
L-Akkademja tax-Xjenzi ta' Kalifornja: Senġi
Speċi ġodda ta' senġi skoperti