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The seventeen species of sengis or elephant-shrews form a well-defined clade of mammals endemic to Africa that occupy the extremes of terrestrial habitats, from coastal deserts to montane forests. Because of their isolation on Africa soon after the break-up of Gondwanaland, theoretically sengis initially evolved with little competition from other placental radiations. Their life history features include myrmecophagy, saltatorial gaits, no or limited use of nests, social monogamy, small litters of precocial young and absentee maternal care of neonates. These traits together are unique to the Macroscelidea and represent a wedding of features usually associated with either small antelopes or anteaters. Combined, these features define an adaptive syndrome that presumably has been relatively immune to competition from contemporary mammals, partially due to phylogenetic inertia. Yet paradoxically, the syndrome is well suited to a wide range of terrestrial habitats, resulting in low taxonomic diversity. Because of their unusual phylogeny and low species diversity, conservation interest is high for those sengis with relatively low densities in fragmented forests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rupicolous black mongoose (Galerella nigrata) is endemic to southwestern Africa. Because virtually nothing is known about its behavioural ecology we radio- tracked an adult male that we accidentally captured in the foothills of the Erongo Mountains of Namihia from May to July 2003. During our study a greater kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros) died within the home range of the mongoose and up to seven mongooses fed on adult, larval, and pupal sarcophagid flies attracted to the rotting antelope. Intra-specific aggression near the carcass probably produced a dominance hierarchy that resulted in the mongooses feeding solitarily at the kudu. The post-kudu home range area of the tagged mongoose shrank by 66% and its centre of activity shifted to the carcass. The feeding and ranging behaviours of G. nigrata appear to be similar to other species of Galerella. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]