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 than the raw number is the physiology behind it. Tenrecs hold an unusually variable body temperature for a mammal, and this species was the first tropical mammal observed to hibernate. How that flexibility relates to its long dormancy and its fertility is not fully worked out.