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The lowland streaked tenrec uses its spines to communicate via ultrasonic noises

Jennifer Sandlin
Mar 27, 2025
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Tenrec (Hemicentetes semispinosus) Copyright (c) 2014 reptiles4all/Shutterstock

This strange little creature—which, to me, looks like an overgrown bumble bee with an unusually large snout—is a lowland streaked tenrec. They are native to Madagascar, covered in spines, and, according to Dr. Natalie Cooper, who has studied them, "like a hedgehog crossed wit…

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