Chequered sengi
Rhynchocyon cirnei Peters, 1847
The chequered sengi (Rhynchocyon cirnei) is a species in the family Macroscelididae, order Macroscelidea. Recorded adults weigh 424.9 g to 490 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
Quick facts about the chequered sengi
- Weight
- 424.9 g – 490 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Invertivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Young per litter or clutch
- 1.93src for Young per litter or clutch
- Litters or clutches a year
- 4.5src for Litters or clutches a year
- Active
- By day (diurnal)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the chequered sengi live?
Not recorded
What is the chequered sengi?
The chequered sengi or checkered sengi (Rhynchocyon cirnei), also known as the chequered elephant shrew or checkered elephant shrew, is a species of small mammal belonging to the sengi family (Macroscelididae).
From the Wikipedia article “Chequered sengi” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chequered_sengi&oldid=1360554418), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the chequered sengi endangered?
The chequered sengi is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.
How is the chequered sengi classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderMacroscelidea
- familyMacroscelididae
- genusRhynchocyon
- SpeciesRhynchocyon cirnei Peters, 1847
Other names and names in other languages (23)
- Checkered elephant shrewEnglish
- Checkered elephant shrewEnglish
- Checkered sengiEnglish
- Chequered elephant shrewEnglish
- Chequered elephant-shrewEnglish
- Chequered elephant-shrewEnglish
- Chequered giant sengiEnglish
- زبابة الفيل المشطرجةArabic
- bércoun skvrnitýCzech
- Geflecktes RüsselhündchenGerman
- Στικτή ΕλεφαντομέγαιραGreek
- Sengi de cuadrosSpanish
- Sengi Gigante EstriadoSpanish
- täpläkuonokasFinnish
- Macroscélide de CirneFrench
- テングハネジネズミJapanese
- FlekkjempesengiNorwegian Bokmål
- FlekksnabelhundNorwegian Bokmål
- Gevlekt SlurfhondjeDutch
- sorkonos plamistyPolish
- Sengi-gigante-quadriculadoPortuguese
- Пятнистая хоботковая собачкаRussian
- Damalı fil faresiTurkish
Relatives of the chequered sengi
Other species in the same genus Rhynchocyon.
Black and rufous sengi
Rhynchocyon petersi
Golden-rumped sengi
Rhynchocyon chrysopygus
Gray-faced sengi
Rhynchocyon udzungwensis
White-tailed sengi
Rhynchocyon stuhlmanni
CompareChequered sengi vs Black and rufous sengiChequered sengi vs Golden-rumped sengiChequered sengi vs Gray-faced sengiChequered sengi vs White-tailed sengi
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the chequered sengi?
An adult chequered sengi weighs 424.9 g – 490 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the chequered sengi endangered?
The chequered sengi is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
What kind of animal is the chequered sengi?
The chequered sengi (Rhynchocyon cirnei) belongs to the family Macroscelididae in the order Macroscelidea.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Chequered sengi (Rhynchocyon cirnei). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/chequered-sengi
“Chequered sengi (Rhynchocyon cirnei).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/chequered-sengi.
@misc{chequered_sengi_2026,
title = {Chequered sengi (Rhynchocyon cirnei)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/chequered-sengi},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}