Habitat and Geography
Geography:
The lowland streaked tenrec is only found
in one country in the entire world. That country is located just off
the East coast of Africa and is the island called Madagascar. There
are more than one species of tenrec that live on Madagascar, but
lowland streaked tenrecs are only found on the East side of the
island which is covered mostly by a tropical rainforest. The tenrec
is classified as island endemic which means they are only found on
one island or a set of islands (Kokx 2009).
Habitat:
The lowland streaked tenrec is classified
into a couple different habitual categories. One of these categories
is terrestrial which means they live on the ground just as a
meerkat
does (Koxk 2009). Tenrecs are also classified as agricultural which
means they live in areas that are used for agriculture for humans
(Koxk 2009). Since the lowland streaked tenrec lives in a warmer
climate this has some resulting effects on their lifestyle. They can
reproduce more often than that of the
similar species of highland streaked tenrec and can also go in and
out of their torpor state to forage for
food (Stephenson 1994). A torpor state is hibernation which many
animals can do including bears and
snails!
Some other animals that live in the same habitat as the lowland streaked tenrec include:
The Madagascar Dwarf Gecko
The Helmet Vanga
Malagasy Ring-Tailed Mongoose (one of the lowland streaked tenrecs predators)
Madagascar Pygmy-Kingfisher
Click here for more information on the form and function of the lowland streaked tenrec!