How many baby Western rock elephant shrews are in a litter?
A Western rock elephant shrew (Elephantulus rupestris) usually gives birth to around 1 babies.
Each of those little ones spend around 56 days as a fetus before they are released into the wild. Upon birth, they weight 10 grams (0.02 lbs) and measure 8 cm (0′ 4″). They are a member of the Macroscelididae family (genus: Elephantulus). An adult Western rock elephant shrew grows up to a size of 12.2 cm (0′ 5″).
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 western rock elephant shrew or western rock sengi (Elephantulus rupestris) is a species of elephant shrew in the family Macroscelididae. It is found in Namibia, South Africa, possibly Angola, and possibly Botswana. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry shrubland and rocky areas.Smaller members of western rock elephant shrew possess functional brown adipose tissue, which changes in thermogenic capacity depending on the season.
Other animals of the family Macroscelididae
Western rock elephant shrew is a member of the Macroscelididae, as are these animals:
- Cape elephant shrew with 1 babies per pregnancy
- Black and rufous elephant shrew with 1 babies per pregnancy
- Golden-rumped elephant shrew with 1 babies per pregnancy
- Dusky-footed elephant shrew weighting only 57 grams
- Rufous elephant shrew with 1 babies per pregnancy
- Bushveld elephant shrew with 1 babies per pregnancy
- Checkered elephant shrew with 1 babies per pregnancy
- North African elephant shrew with 2 babies per pregnancy
- Four-toed elephant shrew with 1 babies per pregnancy
- Macroscelides proboscideus with 1 babies per pregnancy
Animals that share a litter size with Western rock elephant shrew
Those animals also give birth to 1 babies at once:
- Ursine colobus
- Admiralty Island cuscus
- Rafinesque’s big-eared bat
- Canyon bat
- Bicolored-spined porcupine
- Eld’s deer
- Greater mouse-eared bat
- Lowland mosaic-tailed rat
- Typical vlei rat
- Grandidier’s mongoose
Animals with the same weight as a Western rock elephant shrew
What other animals weight around 65 grams (0.14 lbs)?
- Yellow-rumped leaf-eared mouse weighting 53 grams
- Arends’s golden mole weighting 52 grams
- Dressy Oldfield mouse weighting 76 grams
- Dusky antechinus weighting 62 grams
- Ashy-bellied Oldfield mouse weighting 77 grams
- Lodgepole chipmunk weighting 60 grams
- Maritime striped squirrel weighting 66 grams
- Malaita tube-nosed fruit bat weighting 78 grams
- Norway lemming weighting 67 grams
- Nephelomys auriventer weighting 60 grams
Animals with the same size as a Western rock elephant shrew
Also reaching around 12.2 cm (0′ 5″) in size do these animals:
- Brazilian shrew mouse gets as big as 10.4 cm (0′ 5″)
- Palawan soft-furred mountain rat gets as big as 14.4 cm (0′ 6″)
- Kimberley rock rat gets as big as 14.6 cm (0′ 6″)
- Florida mouse gets as big as 10.4 cm (0′ 5″)
- Himalayan striped squirrel gets as big as 10.4 cm (0′ 5″)
- Mazama pocket gopher gets as big as 14.5 cm (0′ 6″)
- Garden dormouse gets as big as 13.8 cm (0′ 6″)
- Van Deusen’s rat gets as big as 13.5 cm (0′ 6″)
- Horsfield’s tarsier gets as big as 10.6 cm (0′ 5″)
- Fly River water rat gets as big as 14.6 cm (0′ 6″)