Practical Prickles: Lowland Streaked Tenrec

Think fast: what is noisy, stays
up late, and sleeps late into the
morning? Don’t answer yet—it
also strays from its parents, sports an
extreme hairstyle, and has a gnarly
attitude.

No, it isn’t a teenager. Well, it could
be, but here’s another clue: it’s an expert
at thriving in the rainforest. You got it—it’s a
lowland streaked tenrec! With a
prickly exterior and a matching disposition,
these crazy critters overcome the
odds in a dangerous place. How do they
do it? The secret is in the spines.

A What?

Tenrecs are small, shrew-like mammals.
Even though some are dead
ringers for hedgehogs, the similarities
are only spine deep. In fact, biologists
struggle to classify tenrecs. Creation
scientists believe they belong to their
own separate created kind. So why
are their spines so similar to those of
unrelated animals? Well, if the same
Designer created hedgehogs, porcupines,
and tenrecs, it shouldn’t surprise
us to see his signature in such
similarities. Still, lowland streaked
tenrecs make unique use of their
spines, as we’ll see.

Lowland streaked tenrecs are found
in and around the rainforests of eastern
Madagascar. They’d fit in your
hand, measuring around 7 inches
(16–19 cm) long and weighing about 5
ounces (125–280 g). Every few hours
(day or night doesn’t matter), they
come scurrying out of their burrows
to nose around for earthworms. If you
find one hungry hunter, others probably
aren’t far away, since they burrow
and forage together as families.

They’re also super cute. But don’t
get on their bad side—those outrageous
hairdos aren’t merely a fashion
statement.

Go Ahead, Make My [Hair] Day

Like hedgehogs, lowland streaked
tenrecs defend themselves with their
spines, but unlike hedgehogs, they
don’t roll into balls. Their needle-sharp
spines are equipped for defense
in several ways. First, the colorful
streaks are signs that these feisty critters
won’t be easy snacks. If a predator
ignores the warning colors, tenrecs
raise the spines on their necks and
heads, while sounding off with a “putt-putt”
or a “crunch” and stomping their
front paws.

If the attacker still wants to risk
picking a fight, the tenrec gets rowdy.
Bucking its head up and down, it
charges. Tenrecs will charge at animals
much larger than they are (for
instance, the catlike fossa is up to 40
times larger). Like porcupine spines,
the spines on the lowland streaked
tenrec are barbed and wrapped in a
sheath at the base so they can detach.
A persistent predator is likely to get a
face full of needles. Don’t say it didn’t
warn you!

It’s an effective defense, but why
would anything need defense in God’s
original “very good” creation, when all
animals were vegetarian? A clue may
involve yet another feature of their
spines.

Rubbing the Right Way

Tenrecs also use their spines to
communicate with each other by stridulation.
You may not have heard of
this term, but you’re familiar with it
because you’ve heard crickets chirping.
Stridulation is caused by the vibration
of two surfaces rubbing together,
like a bow against violin strings (or a
cricket’s wings against each other).
Many insects make music this way,
but tenrecs are the only mammals
known to stridulate.

The lowland streaked tenrec sounds
off with a special patch of spines
designed for this very purpose. The
instrument is located on a small area
of its back. Underneath the skin is a
complex, interlaced network of muscles
that allows the spines to turn rapidly
against each other. Some of these
sounds are audible to humans, but
much of their music is ultrasonic—too
high-pitched for humans to hear. In
fact, when scientists study them, they
use equipment normally used for bats.

They may strike up a tune for various
reasons. One is for the mother to
corral her young. While foraging for
food, the little ones may wander off.
Like blowing a whistle for lost campers,
she rubs her spines together to call
the strays back to safety.

How did they become so brambly
and boisterous? God placed immense
variety in his creatures so they could
fill the earth. It may be that tenrecs’
spines were originally designed for
communication and became sharpened
weapons only after Adam’s sin
brought death into the world. In any
case, about 1,700 years later, when
members of the tenrec kind left the
Ark, they carried with them the DNA
to thrive in a multitude of niches and
“keep their offspring alive on the face
of all the earth” (Genesis 7:3).

God shows his providence and care
in all his creatures, even the prickly
ones, and they sing—and stridulate—his glory
in every corner of the world
(Psalm 96:11–13).

Did You Know . . .

illustration by Dave Mottram

Tenrecs rub specialized spines on their backs
together to produce high-pitched sounds—a form of
communication known as stridulation.
Insects like crickets stridulate by rubbing
their wings together, but the
lowland streaked tenrec is the
only mammal with this ability.

Their body temperature is among the most variable of all
mammals. It can swing widely in just hours and sometimes
drops to almost as low as the surrounding environment.

They are particular about the conditions
of their homes. They cover their burrow
entrances with leaves and create
a latrine near the door.

Tenrecs go to the bathroom in one
place and can be potty trained as pets.
They can also be trained not to stick
their spines into their owners.

They have a few tricks
to help find food, including
stamping the ground to get
the earthworms moving.

illustration by Dave Mottram

SourceThis article originally appeared on answersingenesis.org

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