tenrec

Any of various insectivorous often nocturnal mammals of the family Tenrecidae of Madagascar and parts of central Africa.

A Madagascar hedgehog; any insectivorous mammal of the family Centetidæ, as Centetes ecaudatus, Ericulus spinosus, and Echinops telfairi. The rice-tenrec is Oryzoryctes hova. Also tang. See cut under sokinah.

[capitalized] [NL. (Lacépède. 1798), and in the form Tanrecus (Desmarest, 1825).] A generic name for the species of Centetidæ: same as Centetes in a former broad sense.

A small insectivore (Centetes ecaudatus), native of Madagascar, but introduced also into the islands of Bourbon and Mauritius; — called also tanrec. The name is applied to other allied genera. See tendrac.

Any of several diverse small mammals, of the family Tenrecidae, many native to Madagascar.

small often spiny insectivorous mammal of Madagascar; resembles a hedgehog