sengi

plural sengis

1. Any of several small, insectivorous long-nosed mammals, of the family Macroscelididae within the Macroscelidea order, native to Africa.

   Four-toed elephant shrew or sengi Petrodromus tetradactylus

   [1997, Jonathan Kingdon, “Elephant Shrews, or Sengis”, in The Kingdon Field Guide to African Mammals, San Diego, Calif.; London: AP Natural World, Academic Press, →ISBN, page 149

   5 more examples

   The order formerly known as Insectivora included solenodons; shrews; moles and desmans; hedgehogs and moonrats or gymnures; golden moles, tenrecs, and otter shrews; and sengis or elephant shrews.

   2007, Marian Armstrong, Wildlife and Plants, volume 9 (Horseshoe Crab – Ladybug), New York, N.Y.: Marshall Cavendish, →ISBN, page 540

   Sengis feed on insects and other animal and plant material. […] Young sengis are highly precocial at birth—they will forage 1 day after birth[…].

   2007, George A[lan] Feldhamer, Lee C[harles] Drickamer, Stephen H[ulbert] Vessey, Joseph F[rancis] Merritt, Carey Krajewski, “Afrosoricida, Erinaceomorpha, Soricomorpha, Macroscelidea, Scandentia, and Dermoptera”, in Mammalogy: Adaptation, Diversity, Ecology, 3rd edition, Baltimore, Md.: Johns Hopkins University Press, →ISBN, part 3 (Adaptive Radiation and Diversity), page 251, column 1

   Like small African antelopes, sengis spend their life exposed to the elements while relying on disruptive coloration to act as camouflage from the plethora of African predators.

   2010, Joseph F[rancis] Merritt, “Mating Systems and Reproductive Strategies”, in The Biology of Small Mammals, Baltimore, Md.: Johns Hopkins University Press, →ISBN, part 3 (Reproduction), page 237

   The gray-faced sengi is good at hiding out. It was not until 2005 that scientists discovered this species of elephant shrew, a mammal found only in Tanzania. First captured in a camera trap image, the species was later named Rhynchocyon udzungwensis by tropical ecologist Francesco Rovero and his collaborators. The gray-faced sengi (sengi is a Swahili name) lives in the country's Eastern Arc Mountains in the protected areas of the Udzungwa Mountains National Park and the Kilombero Nature Reserve.

   2013 December 20, Christy Ullrich Barcus, “World’s Biggest Elephant Shrew Tracked in Tanzania”, in National Geographic, Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 01 Jun 2023

   After various studies it has been decreed that the sengi, of which there are probably 19 species living in Africa, are not related to shrews at all but are in fact a distant relative of the – drum roll, please – yes, you guessed it, the elephant! […] The majority of the sengi species are considered of Least Concern, but two giant sengis (giant is a loose term when dealing with elephant-shrews) are at risk.

   2017, Ceri Levy, “Golden-rumped Sengi: Rhynchocyon chrysopygus”, in Ralph Steadman’s Critical Critters, London; New York, N.Y.: Bloomsbury Natural History, Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN, page 96

   Synonyms: elephant shrew, jumping shrew, macroscelidid

plural sengis · alternative senghi

1. historicalA former (1967–1993) monetary unit of Zaire, one hundredth of a likuta, and one ten-thousandth of a zaire; it was issued only in ten sengi coins.