Microgale macpheei

---

title: "Microgale macpheei" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["afrosoricida", "extinct-mammals", "prehistoric-animals-of-madagascar", "holocene-extinctions", "mammals-described-in-2007"] description: "Extinct shrew tenrec from Madagascar" topic_path: "general/afrosoricida" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microgale_macpheei" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Extinct shrew tenrec from Madagascar ::

| fossil_range = Holocene | image = | status = EX | genus = Microgale | species = macpheei | authority = Goodman, Vasey, and Burney, 2007 | range_map = Microgale macpheei range.svg | range_map_caption = Location of Andrahomana Cave, the only place where Microgale macpheei has been found

Microgale macpheei is an extinct shrew tenrec from southeastern Madagascar. It is known only from two partial skulls found in Andrahomana cave, which radiocarbon dating of associated rodent remains suggests are about 3000 years old. It is the only known recently extinct tenrec. First described in 2007, it is most similar to the smaller Microgale brevicaudata of northern and western Madagascar. M. macpheei has a broad rostrum (front part of the skull) and, like M. brevicaudata, lacks a diastema (gap) between the premolars. A number of details of tooth morphology are characteristic of M. macpheei.

Taxonomy

Remains of shrew tenrecs (Microgale) were found during expeditions to the cave of Andrahomana in southeastern Madagascar, led by David Burney in 2000 and 2003. The Microgale material was described as a new species, M. macpheei, in 2007 by Steven Goodman, Natalie Vasey, and Burney. The species was named after Ross MacPhee in honor of his contributions to knowledge of the genus Microgale and the paleontology of Madagascar. Goodman and colleagues considered the living Microgale brevicaudata from northern and western Madagascar to be the closest relative of M. macpheei; some populations of this tenrec have since been separated into a different species, M. grandidieri. The common name "MacPhee's shrew tenrec" has been proposed for M. macpheei. The genus of M. macpheei, Microgale, includes more than 20 species and is the largest of the tenrec family, which includes a variety of other Malagasy mammals.

Description

Microgale macpheei is known from two specimens: a damaged cranium (skull without mandibles, or lower jaws) lacking the back part (the parietal bones and further back) as well as the incisors, canines, and second premolars; M. macpheei was larger in most measurements than M. brevicaudata, but because of small samples, some differences are not statistically significant.

The rostrum (front part of the skull) is short and blunt in both M. macpheei and M. brevicaudata, contrasting with the condition in other Microgale, the former convention is used in MacPhee's 1987 revision of the genus.|group=Note}} also differ between the two species.

Distribution and ecology

Microgale macpheei is known only from the cave of Andrahomana.

Notes

References

Literature cited

• Goodman, S.M., Vasey, N. and Burney, D.A. 2007. "Description of a new species of subfossil shrew tenrec (Afrosoricida: Tenrecidae: Microgale) from cave deposits in southeastern Madagascar" (subscription required). Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 120:367–376.
• MacPhee, R.D.E. 1987. "The shrew tenrecs of Madagascar: systematic revision and Holocene distribution of Microgale (Tenrecidae, Insectivora)". American Museum Novitates 2889:1–45.
• Muldoon, K.M., de Blieux, D.D., Simons, E.L. and Chatrath, P.S. 2009. "The subfossil occurrence and paleoecological significance of small mammals at Ankilitelo Cave, southwestern Madagascar" (subscription required). Journal of Mammalogy 90(5):1111–1131.
• Olson, L.E., Rakotomalala, Z., Hildebrandt, K.B.P., Lanier, H.C., Raxworthy, C.J. and Goodman, S.M. 2009. "Phylogeography of Microgale brevicaudata (Tenrecidae) and description of a new species from western Madagascar" (subscription required). Journal of Mammalogy 90(5):1095–1110.

References

1. Goodman et al., 2007, p. 368
2. Goodman et al., 2007, p. 370
3. Goodman et al., 2007, p. 371
4. Goodman et al., 2007, p. 373
5. Olson et al., 2009, p. 1095
6. Muldoon et al., 2009, p. 1117
7. MacPhee, 1987, p. 11
8. and another damaged cranium lacking the same parts as well as the left toothrow. Both show no evidence of ongoing [[tooth replacement]], indicating that the [[permanent dentition]] is complete.Goodman et al., 2007, pp. 370–371
9. Olson et al., 2009, p. 1107
10. The length of the bony [[palate]] in the two specimens of ''M. macpheei'' is 9.4 and 9.7 mm, compared to 7.1 to 9.0 mm in eight adult ''M. brevicaudata''. In both specimens, the length of the molar row is 3.0 mm, compared to 2.4 to 2.8 mm in the sample of ''M. brevicaudata''.Goodman et al., 2007, table 1
11. E.g., MacPhee, 1987, fig. 8
12. Its past presence there, like that of the extinct rodent ''[[Hypogeomys australis]]'', suggests formerly more [[mesic habitat

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::