Common tenrec litters are exceptional in size. Averages run between about fifteen and twenty young after a gestation of fifty to sixty days, and litters as large as thirty-two have been recorded, the highest reported for any land mammal. The female is equipped accordingly, with teat counts reported up to about twenty-nine.
The reproductive strategy fits a seasonal environment. Common tenrecs spend much of the dry season dormant in a burrow, then breed once conditions improve, converting a short productive window into as many offspring as possible. The young grow quickly and forage with the mother in a group before dispersing.
Superlatives here deserve care: the maximum comes from a small number of records, and a typical litter is roughly half that size. More interesting is the physiology behind it. Tenrecs hold an unusually variable body temperature for a mammal, and free-ranging common tenrecs have been recorded hibernating for up to nine months without the periodic arousals other hibernators need, which is unmatched among mammals studied so far. How that flexibility relates to the animal's fertility is not fully worked out.