Elephantulus intufi

Taxonomy

Assessment Information

Geographic Range

Population

Habitat and Ecology

Threats

Conservation Actions

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Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
ANIMALIA	CHORDATA	MAMMALIA	MACROSCELIDEA	MACROSCELIDIDAE

Scientific Name:

Elephantulus intufi

Species Authority:

(A. Smith, 1836)

Common Name/s:

English

–

Bushveld Elephant Shrew, Bushveld Sengi

Taxonomic Notes:

In the past the single family was included in the order Insectivora, but now the family is in the monophyletic order Macroscelidea and the newly created super-cohort Afrotheria. Currently, there are 17 living species recognized in four genera. The soft-furred sengis or elephant-shrews include three genera: Macroscelides and Petrodromus are each monospecific, while Elephantulus contains 11 species. The four species of giant sengis belong to the genus Rhynchocyon. The common name "sengi" is being used in place of elephant-shrew by many biologists to try and disassociate the Macroscelidea from the true shrews (family Soricidae) in the order Soricomorpha. See the Afrotheria Specialist Group web site for additional information.

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria:

Least Concern ver 3.1

Year Assessed:

2008

Assessor/s:

Stuart, C., Perrin, M., FitzGibbon, C., Griffin, M. (IUCN SSC Afrotheria Specialist Group) & Smit, H. (Stellenbosch University)

Reviewer/s:

Rathbun, G. (Afrotheria Red List Authority) & Hoffmann, M. (Global Mammal Assessment Team)

Justification:
The species is listed as Least Concern. This species occupies vast areas of southern Africa that are not generally impacted greatly by human activities, with the possible exception of locally intense grazing, such as the "Bushmanland" area of South Africa. It is not known whether this species is adversely impacted by heavy grazing, but given what is known about sengi life history it probably is less influenced by this land use than many other small mammals. This species occupies quite arid habitats with considerable natural variation in environmental conditions that probably results in frequent changes in sengi population numbers, which are natural.

History:

2006	–	Least Concern (IUCN 2006)
1996	–	Lower Risk/least concern (Baillie and Groombridge 1996)

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description:	The species occurs in south-western Angola, Namibia, Botswana, and northern South Africa (Corbet and Hanks 1968; Skinner and Chimimba 2005).
Countries:	Native: Angola; Botswana; Namibia; South Africa
Range Map:	Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.

Population [top]

Population:	This species is locally common.
Population Trend:	Stable

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology:	Said to inhabit more arid terrain than any other Elephantulus species, including dry savanna woodlands, steppe, and semi-deserts (Corbet and Hanks 1968; Skinner and Chimimba 2005).
Systems:	Terrestrial

Threats [top]

Major Threat(s):	There are no known major threats.

Major Threat(s):

There are no known major threats.

Conservation Actions [top]

Conservation Actions:	The species occurs in protected areas.

Conservation Actions:

The species occurs in protected areas.

Citation:	Stuart, C., Perrin, M., FitzGibbon, C., Griffin, M. & Smit, H. 2008. Elephantulus intufi. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 10 February 2012.
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