How many baby Black and rufous elephant shrews are in a litter?
A Black and rufous elephant shrew (Rhynchocyon petersi) usually gives birth to around 1 babies.
Upon birth, they weight 80 grams (0.18 lbs) and measure 2.5 cm (0′ 1″). They are a member of the Macroscelididae family (genus: Rhynchocyon). An adult Black and rufous elephant shrew grows up to a size of 27.3 cm (0′ 11″).
To have a reference: Humans obviously usually have a litter size of one ;). Their babies are in the womb of their mother for 280 days (40 weeks) and reach an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″). They weight in at 62 kg (137 lbs), which is obviously highly individual, and reach an average age of 75 years.
The black and rufous elephant shrew, (Rhynchocyon petersi) the black and rufous sengi, or the Zanj elephant shrew is one of the 17 species of elephant shrew found only in Africa. Like other members of the genus Rhynchocyon, it is a relatively large species, with adults averaging about 28 cm (11 in) in length and 450-700 g (1.0-1.5 lb) in weight. It is native to the lowland montane and dense forests of Kenya and Tanzania. It eats insects such as beetles, termites, and centipedes, using its proboscis to dig them from the soil and its tongue to lick them up. It typically builds ground level nests for shelter requiring dry leaf litter often at the base of trees. Like most elephant shrews, it lives in monogamous pairs, defending hectare-sized territories.The forests of the Eastern Arc Mountains are critical habitats for R. petersi. The Chome Forest Reserve in Tanzania is an isolated, and largely undisturbed, habitat for the shrews. Populations densities in the Chome area are significantly lower than the surrounding areas, home to approximately 2700 R. petersi, and is thought to be the result of restricted migration and illegal human activity. It was once listed by the IUCN Red List as vulnerable, but has since been changed to a status of least concern. However, its numbers are reportedly declining; suffering from severe forest fragmentation and degradation from human expansion.
Other animals of the family Macroscelididae
Black and rufous elephant shrew is a member of the Macroscelididae, as are these animals:
- Bushveld elephant shrew with 1 babies per pregnancy
- Checkered elephant shrew with 1 babies per pregnancy
- Somali elephant shrew weighting only 32 grams
- Western rock elephant shrew with 1 babies per pregnancy
- North African elephant shrew with 2 babies per pregnancy
- Golden-rumped elephant shrew with 1 babies per pregnancy
- Macroscelides proboscideus with 1 babies per pregnancy
- Four-toed elephant shrew with 1 babies per pregnancy
- Dusky elephant shrew with 1 babies per pregnancy
- Rufous elephant shrew with 1 babies per pregnancy
Animals that share a litter size with Black and rufous elephant shrew
Those animals also give birth to 1 babies at once:
- Scimitar oryx
- Big-eared woolly bat
- Bush vlei rat
- Tree pangolin
- Hooded seal
- Domestic yak
- Long-nosed potoroo
- Black capuchin
- Bactrian camel
- Woodlark cuscus
Animals with the same weight as a Black and rufous elephant shrew
What other animals weight around 423 grams (0.93 lbs)?
- Mahogany glider weighting 361 grams
- Steinbach’s tuco-tuco weighting 385 grams
- Slender-tailed squirrel weighting 427 grams
- Mutable sun squirrel weighting 390 grams
- White-footed tamarin weighting 457 grams
- Japen rat weighting 380 grams
- Eastern small-toothed rat weighting 357 grams
- Merriam’s pocket gopher weighting 420 grams
- Pygmy rabbit weighting 437 grams
- Maués marmoset weighting 443 grams