World Species : Potamogale velox (Giant Otter Shrew)

Animalia > Chordata > Mammalia > Afrosoricida > Tenrecidae > Potamogale > Potamogale velox

Potamogale velox (Giant Otter Shrew)

Contents

Synonyms: Cynogale velox; Mythomys velox

Wikipedia Abstract

The giant otter shrew (Potamogale velox) is a semiaquatic, carnivorous tenrec. It is found in the main rainforest block of central Africa from Nigeria to Zambia, with a few isolated populations in Kenya and Uganda. It is found in streams, wetlands and slow flowing larger rivers. It is monotypic in the genus Potamogale.

View Wikipedia Record: Potamogale velox

EDGE Analysis

Uniqueness Scale: Similiar (0)

Unique (100)

Uniqueness & Vulnerability Scale: Similiar & Secure (0)

Unique & Vulnerable (100)

ED Score: 30.86

EDGE Score: 3.46

Learn more at EDGE of Existence programme

Attributes

Litter Size ^[4]	2
Litters / Year ^[4]	2
Nocturnal ^[1]	Yes
Snout to Vent Length ^[4]	13 inches (34 cm)
Water Biome ^[1]	Rivers and Streams

Adult Weight ^[2]	1.455 lbs (660 g)

Diet ^[3]	Carnivore (Invertebrates), Carnivore (Vertebrates), Piscivore
Diet - Ectothermic ^[3]	10 %
Diet - Fish ^[3]	20 %
Diet - Invertibrates ^[3]	70 %
Forages - Ground ^[3]	100 %

Ecoregions

+ Click for the list (15)

Name	Countries	Ecozone	Biome
Albertine Rift montane forests	Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi,Tanzania	Afrotropic	Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests
Atlantic Equatorial coastal forests	Cameroon, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon	Afrotropic	Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests
Central Congolian lowland forests	Democratic Republic of the Congo	Afrotropic	Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests
Central Zambezian Miombo woodlands	Tanzania, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola, Zambia, Malawi	Afrotropic	Tropical and Subtropical Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands
Cross-Niger transition forests	Nigeria	Afrotropic	Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests
Cross-Sanaga-Bioko coastal forests	Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria	Afrotropic	Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests
Eastern Congolian swamp forests	Democratic Republic of the Congo	Afrotropic	Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests
Mount Cameroon and Bioko montane forests	Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea	Afrotropic	Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests
Northeastern Congolian lowland forests	Cameroon, Central African Republic, Gabon, Republic of the Congo	Afrotropic	Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests
Northern Congolian forest-savanna mosaic	Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, Central African Republic, Cameroon	Afrotropic	Tropical and Subtropical Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands
Northwestern Congolian lowland forests	Cameroon, Central African Republic, Gabon, Democratic Republic of the Congo	Afrotropic	Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests
Southern Congolian forest-savanna mosaic	Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola	Afrotropic	Tropical and Subtropical Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands
Victoria Basin forest-savanna mosaic	Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya	Afrotropic	Tropical and Subtropical Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands
Western Congolian forest-savanna mosaic	Gabon, Congo, Democratic Rep of the Congo, Angola	Afrotropic	Tropical and Subtropical Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands
Western Congolian swamp forests	Democratic Republic of the Congo, Congo	Afrotropic	Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests

Protected Areas

Name	IUCN Category	Area acres	Location
Parc National d'Odzala National Park	II	3423581	Congo
Parc National de Tai National Park	II	1085310	Côte d'Ivoire
Queen Elizabeth National Park	II	522052	Uganda
Reserve Forestiere et de Faune du Dja Wildlife Reserve	IV	1551322	Cameroon

Biodiversity Hotspots

Name	Location	Endemic	Species	Website
Eastern Afromontane	Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Tanzania, Uganda, Yemen, Zimbabwe	No
Guinean Forests of West Africa	Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, São Tomé and Príncipe, Sierra Leone, Togo	No

Range Map

External References

Citations

Attributes / relations provided by
♦ ¹Myers, P., R. Espinosa, C. S. Parr, T. Jones, G. S. Hammond, and T. A. Dewey. 2006. The Animal Diversity Web (online). Accessed February 01, 2010 at animaldiversity.org
♦ ²Felisa A. Smith, S. Kathleen Lyons, S. K. Morgan Ernest, Kate E. Jones, Dawn M. Kaufman, Tamar Dayan, Pablo A. Marquet, James H. Brown, and John P. Haskell. 2003. Body mass of late Quaternary mammals. Ecology 84:3403
♦ ³Hamish Wilman, Jonathan Belmaker, Jennifer Simpson, Carolina de la Rosa, Marcelo M. Rivadeneira, and Walter Jetz. 2014. EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95:2027
♦ ⁴Nathan P. Myhrvold, Elita Baldridge, Benjamin Chan, Dhileep Sivam, Daniel L. Freeman, and S. K. Morgan Ernest. 2015. An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96:3109

Ecoregions provided by World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF). WildFinder: Online database of species distributions, ver. 01.06 Wildfinder Database

Biodiversity Hotspots provided by Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund

Abstract provided by DBpedia licensed under a Creative Commons License

Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0