CreatureData

Tailless tenrec

Tenrec ecaudatus (Schreber, 1778)

LCLeast Concernmammals

The tailless tenrec (Tenrec ecaudatus) is a species in the family Tenrecidae, order Afrosoricida. Recorded adults weigh 868 g to 885.8 g and live up to 6.32 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Tailless tenrec (Tenrec ecaudatus)
Photo: Damouns · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the tailless tenrec

Weight
868 g – 885.8 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
6.32 yearssrc for Lifespan
Diet
Invertivoresrc for Diet
Longest recorded lifespan
8.7 years
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
Not recorded
Gestation
53 days – 63 dayssrc for Gestation
Young per litter or clutch
16.9src for Young per litter or clutch
Age at maturity
6.33 monthssrc for Age at maturity
Litters or clutches a year
1.5src for Litters or clutches a year
Active
At night (nocturnal)src for Active
Lifestyle
Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Photos of the tailless tenrec

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Where does the tailless tenrec live?

Not recorded

What is the tailless tenrec?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The tailless tenrec (Tenrec ecaudatus), also known as the common tenrec, is a species of mammal in the family Tenrecidae. It is the only member of the genus Tenrec. Native to Madagascar, it is also found on the Comoros, Mauritius, Réunion, and Seychelles island groups, where it has been purposely introduced. Its natural habitat is the understory of subtropical-tropical forest, open forest, arid shrub-land, savanna, arable land, pastures, crop plantations, private gardens, and some landscaped, urban areas.

The tailless tenrec is the largest species of the tenrec family, Tenrecidae. It is 26 to 39 cm (10 to 15 in) in length and weighs up to 2 kilograms (4.4 lb). It has medium-sized, coarse grey to reddish-grey fur and long, sharp spines along its body. The animal is omnivorous, and unlike the herbivorous rodents for which it is often mistaken, possesses small, needle-like sharp teeth for a diet of larger invertebrates, frogs, reptiles, mice, and other small mammals, as well as fruits, leaves, and other vegetation. If threatened, this tenrec will scream, erect its spiny hairs to a crest, jump, buck, and bite. It shelters in a nest of grass and leaves under a rock, log, or bush by day. It gives birth to a litter of as many as 32 young, with an average litter numbering between 15 and 20 after a gestation of 50–60 days; when young, they have a black-and-white-striped appearance. Despite being sometimes known as the tailless tenrec, it has a small tail 1.0 to 1.5 cm (0.39 to 0.59 in) in length.

The tailless tenrec was the first tropical mammal observed to hibernate, for long stretches of time without waking periods, up to nine months at a time. The tailless tenrec is a host of the acanthocephalan intestinal parasite Promoniliformis ovocristatus.

From the Wikipedia article “Tailless tenrec” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tailless_tenrec&oldid=1349969241), 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 tailless tenrec endangered?

The tailless tenrec is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. 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 tailless tenrec classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classMammalia
  4. orderAfrosoricida
  5. familyTenrecidae
  6. genusTenrec
  7. SpeciesTenrec ecaudatus (Schreber, 1778)

Synonyms Erinaceus ecaudatus

Other names and names in other languages (29)
  • Common tenrecEnglish
  • Common tenrecEnglish
  • Common tenrecEnglish
  • Tail-less tenrecEnglish
  • Tail-less tenrecEnglish
  • Tail-less tenrec.English
  • Tailess tenrecEnglish
  • Tailess tenrecEnglish
  • طنرق شائعArabic
  • bodlín bezocasýCzech
  • Großer TenrekGerman
  • TenrekGerman
  • ΜυγαλήGreek
  • Tenrec sin ColaSpanish
  • isotanrekkiFinnish
  • TangueFrench
  • Hérisson malgacheFrench
  • Tenrec acaudeFrench
  • farkatlan tanrekHungarian
  • Tenrec comuneItalian
  • テンレックJapanese
  • BørstepiggsvinNorwegian Bokmål
  • Gewone TenrekDutch
  • Tenrek zwyczajnyPolish
  • Kretojeż bezogonowyPolish
  • Tenrec-sem-caudaPortuguese
  • Обыкновенный тенрекRussian
  • navadni tenrekSlovenian
  • Тенрек звичайнийUkrainian

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the tailless tenrec

Other species in the same family Tenrecidae.

CompareTailless tenrec vs Greater hedgehog tenrecTailless tenrec vs Lesser hedgehog tenrecTailless tenrec vs Lowland streaked tenrecTailless tenrec vs Large-eared tenrec

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the tailless tenrec?

An adult tailless tenrec weighs 868 g – 885.8 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the tailless tenrec endangered?

The tailless tenrec is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.

How long does the tailless tenrec live?

The tailless tenrec has a recorded lifespan of 6.32 years.

How long is the tailless tenrec pregnant?

The recorded gestation period is 53 days – 63 days.

What kind of animal is the tailless tenrec?

The tailless tenrec (Tenrec ecaudatus) belongs to the family Tenrecidae in the order Afrosoricida.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Tailless tenrec (Tenrec ecaudatus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/tailless-tenrec

MLA

“Tailless tenrec (Tenrec ecaudatus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/tailless-tenrec.

BibTeX
@misc{tailless_tenrec_2026,
  title = {Tailless tenrec (Tenrec ecaudatus)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/tailless-tenrec},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}