Abstract
To understand habitat use by the newly described Etendeka round-eared sengi (Macroscelides micus) in northwestern Namibia, we radio-tracked five individuals for nearly a month. Home ranges (100% convex polygons) in the rocky desert habitat were remarkably large (mean 14.9 ha) when compared to sengi species in more mesic habitats (<1.5 ha). The activity pattern of M. micus was strictly nocturnal, which contrasts to the normal diurnal or crepuscular activity of other sengis. The day shelters of M. micus were under single rocks and they likely were occupied by single sengis. One tagged sengi used 22 different day shelters during the study. On average, only 7% of the day shelters were used more than once by the five tagged sengis. The shelters were also unusual for a small mammal in that they were unmodified in terms of excavation or nesting material. Shelter entrances were significantly oriented to face south by south west (average 193°), away from the angle of the prevailing midday sun. This suggests that solar radiation is probably an important aspect of M. micus thermal ecology, similar to other sengis. Compared to published data on other sengis, M. micus generally conforms to the unique sengi adaptive syndrome, but with modifications related to its hyper-arid habitat.
Highlights
The sengis or elephant-shrews (Order Macroscelidea) are a well-defined monophyletic clade of mammals that are endemic to Africa, not closely related to other clades in the supercohort Afrotheria (Seiffert, 2007)
We found no evidence that different individuals used the same shelter, nor that more than one sengi occupied a shelter at the same time, it is remotely possible that untagged sengis paired with our collared animals
Sengi adaptive syndrome We found that M. micus largely conformed to the life history features characteristic of other sengi species, especially the Macroscelidinae, including swift and agile cursorial locomotion, relatively exposed multiple sheltering sites, and possibly spatial organization
Summary
The sengis or elephant-shrews (Order Macroscelidea) are a well-defined monophyletic clade of mammals that are endemic to Africa, not closely related to other clades in the supercohort Afrotheria (Seiffert, 2007). The four species of Rhynchocyon in the first subfamily are forest dwellers in central and eastern Africa and weigh between 300 and 750 g (Rovero et al, 2008). The genera Petrodromus, Elephantulus, and Macroscelides are in the second subfamily. Petrodromus is monospecific, weighs about 200 g, and occupies thickets, dense woodlands, and forests of central and eastern Africa (Jennings & Rathbun, 2001). The 12 species of Elephantulus (Smit et al, 2008) weigh from 45 to 60 g, occupy habitats that include grasslands, bushlands, and open woodlands throughout much of Africa, with the exception of the Sahara Desert and
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