It is hard to guess what a Giant otter shrew weights. But we have the answer:
An adult Giant otter shrew (Potamogale velox) on average weights 685 grams (1.51 lbs).
The Giant otter shrew is from the family Tenrecidae (genus: Potamogale). When reaching adult age, they grow up to 32 cm (1′ 1″). On average, Giant otter shrews can have babies 2 times per year with a litter size of 2.
As a reference: An average human weights in at 62 kg (137 lbs) and reaches an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″). Humans spend 280 days (40 weeks) in the womb of their mother and reach around 75 years of age.
The giant otter shrew (Potamogale velox) is a semiaquatic, carnivorous afrotherian mammal. It is found in the main rainforest block of central Africa from Nigeria to Zambia, with a few isolated populations in Kenya and Uganda. It lives in streams, wetlands and slow flowing larger rivers. It is monotypic in the genus Potamogale. Otter shrews are most closely related to the tenrecs of Madagascar.Contrary to its name, the giant otter shrew is not a true shrew (Soricidae). The common name refers to their resemblance to otters with their flat face and stiff whiskers, and the otter shrews’ overall superficial similarity to true shrews. They are nocturnal carnivores that feed on aquatic animals.
Animals of the same family as a Giant otter shrew
We found other animals of the Tenrecidae family:
- Greater long-tailed shrew tenrec with a weight of 10 grams
- Dryad shrew tenrec with a weight of 40 grams
- Highland streaked tenrec with a weight of 102 grams
- Pygmy shrew tenrec with a weight of 3 grams
- Pale shrew tenrec with a weight of 7 grams
- Drouhard’s shrew tenrec with a weight of 10 grams
- Short-tailed shrew tenrec with a weight of 9 grams
- Montane shrew tenrec with a weight of 13 grams
- Lesser hedgehog tenrec with a weight of 160 grams
- Pygmy shrew tenrec with a weight of 4 grams
Animals with the same weight as a Giant otter shrew
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Potamogale velox:
- Black and red bush squirrel bringing 692 grams to the scale
- Banded linsang bringing 684 grams to the scale
- Amazon bamboo rat bringing 650 grams to the scale
- Angolan kusimanse bringing 700 grams to the scale
- Marbled polecat bringing 594 grams to the scale
- Weasel sportive lemur bringing 670 grams to the scale
- Peruvian night monkey bringing 800 grams to the scale
- Southern white-breasted hedgehog bringing 690 grams to the scale
- Eastern spotted skunk bringing 568 grams to the scale
- Giant naked-tailed rat bringing 745 grams to the scale
Animals with the same size as a Giant otter shrew
Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as Giant otter shrew:
- Coppery titi with a size of 35.5 cm (1′ 2″)
- European mink with a size of 36.1 cm (1′ 3″)
- Florida naked-tailed rat with a size of 27 cm (0′ 11″)
- Mimic tree rat with a size of 30.5 cm (1′ 1″)
- Common degu with a size of 28 cm (1′ 0″)
- Peters’s squirrel with a size of 26.8 cm (0′ 11″)
- Eastern cottontail with a size of 37.2 cm (1′ 3″)
- Giant bushy-tailed cloud rat with a size of 37.1 cm (1′ 3″)
- Common echymipera with a size of 27 cm (0′ 11″)
- Painted ringtail possum with a size of 26.5 cm (0′ 11″)
Animals with the same litter size as a Giant otter shrew
Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (2) as a Giant otter shrew: