page_title: Elephant shrew
section_title: Classification
hierarchical_section_title: Elephant shrew / Classification
caption_attribution_description: English: The four-toed sengi (Petrodromus tetradactylus), Mareja Community Reserve, Pemba, northern Mozambique, 17 June 2011, specimen number CAS MAM 29347 Deutsch: Rüsselratte (Petrodromus tetradactylus), Mareja Community Reserve, Pemba, nördliches Mosambik, 17. Juni 2011, Exemplarnummer CAS MAM 29347
context_page_description: Elephant shrews, also called jumping shrews or sengis, are small insectivorous mammals native to Africa, belonging to the family Macroscelididae, in the order Macroscelidea. Their traditional common English name "elephant shrew" comes from a perceived resemblance between their long noses and the trunk of an elephant, and their superficial similarity with shrews in the order Eulipotyphla. However, phylogenetic analysis revealed that elephant shrews are not classified with true shrews, but are in fact more closely related to elephants than shrews. In 1997, the biologist Jonathan Kingdon proposed that they instead be called "sengis", a term derived from the Bantu languages of Africa, and in 1998, they were classified into the new clade Afrotheria.
  They are widely distributed across the southern part of Africa, and although common nowhere, can be found in almost any type of habitat, from the Namib Desert to boulder-strewn outcrops in South Africa to thick forest. One species, the North African elephant shrew, remains in the semiarid, mountainous country in the far northwest of the continent.
context_section_description: The 19 species of elephant shrew are placed in six genera, three of which are monotypic:
  ORDER MACROSCELIDEA
  Family Macroscelididae
  Genus Elephantulus
  Short-snouted elephant shrew, E. brachyrhynchus
  Cape elephant shrew, E. edwardii
  Dusky-footed elephant shrew, E. fuscipes
  Dusky elephant shrew, E. fuscus
  Bushveld elephant shrew, E. intufi
  Eastern rock elephant shrew, E. myurus
  Karoo rock elephant shrew, E. pilicaudus
  Rufous elephant shrew, E. rufescens
  Western rock elephant shrew, E. rupestris
  Genus Galegeeska
  Somali elephant shrew, G. revoilii
  Genus Macroscelides
  Namib round-eared sengi, M. flavicaudatus
  Etendeka round-eared sengi, M. micus
  Round-eared elephant shrew, M. proboscideus
  Genus Petrodromus
  Four-toed elephant shrew, P. tetradactylus
  Genus Petrosaltator
  North African elephant shrew, P. rozeti
  Genus Rhynchocyon
  Golden-rumped elephant shrew, R. chrysopygus
  Checkered elephant shrew, R. cirnei
  Black and rufous elephant shrew, R. petersi
  Rhynchocyon stuhlmanni
  Grey-faced sengi, R. udzungwensis
caption: Four-toed sengi, Petrodromus tetradactylus, Mozambique
exif: {}