Web-footed Tenrec
Encyclopedia
The Web-footed Tenrec, Otter Shrew, or Aquatic Tenrec (Limnogale mergulus) is the only known semiaquatic Malagasy tenrec (the African otter shrews have similar habits), and is found in eastern Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...

, especially in and around Ranomafana National Park
Ranomafana National Park
Ranomafana National Park is located in the southeastern part of Madagascar in Haute Matsiatra and Vatovavy-Fitovinany. With more than 41,600 hectares of moist forest climate, the park is home to several rare species of flora and fauna such as the lemur...

. It grows to between 25 and 39 cm, and was once thought to be extinct. It feeds on crab
Crab
True crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" , or where the reduced abdomen is entirely hidden under the thorax...

s, water insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...

s, and crayfish
Crayfish
Crayfish, crawfish, or crawdads – members of the superfamilies Astacoidea and Parastacoidea – are freshwater crustaceans resembling small lobsters, to which they are related...

. It weighs between 40 and 60 grams, and is considered vulnerable. It is the only species in the genus Limnogale.

Conservation

Researchers have collected web-footed tenrec scat
Scat
-Education:* School and College Ability Test* Somerset College of Arts and Technology, a community college in Somerset, England* Shrewsbury College of Arts & Technology, a community college in Shropshire, England-Games:* Thirty-one , a card game...

 at ten sites along streams in eastern Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...

. Conservationists say too little is known about the species to determine what is threatening it.
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