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Lowland Streaked Tenrec | Daily Animal Facts

Animal profile

Lowland Streaked Tenrec

Hemicentetes semispinosus

MammaliaLowland rainforest, forest edge and disturbed land in eastern MadagascarLeast Concern

Field profile

The lowland streaked tenrec is a small black-and-yellow Madagascan mammal covered in barbed quills. It forages for earthworms in leaf litter and lives in family groups. It is the only mammal known to produce sound by rubbing specialised quills together.

Scope note

This is an editorial profile, not a diagnostic field-identification guide or a substitute for current conservation assessments. Follow the cited sources on each fact for the evidence trail.

Published field notes

2026-07-12

Lowland Streaked Tenrec

This tenrec makes sound by rubbing its quills together

A patch of specialised quills on the streaked tenrec's back can be vibrated against one another to produce a high-pitched signal. Stridulation is common in insects; among mammals, this is the only case known.

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