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Tenrecomorpha is the suborder of otter shrews and tenrecs, a group of afrotherian mammals indigenous to equatorial Africa and Madagascar, respectively.<ref name = MSW3>Template:MSW3 Afrosoricida</ref><ref name="Everson2016" /> The two families are thought to have split about 47–53 million years ago.<ref name="Everson2016">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="Douady2002">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="Poux2008">Template:Cite journal</ref> Potamogalid otter shrews were formerly considered a subfamily of Tenrecidae.<ref name="Everson2016" /> The suborder is also presumed to contain the extinct genus Plesiorycteropus, a group of possibly fossorial insectivores similar to aardvarks, which is known to be more closely related to tenrecs of subfamily Tenrecinae than to golden moles of suborder Chrysochloridea.<ref name="Buckley2013">Template:Cite journal</ref>

Otter shrews are carnivorous and semiaquatic, preying on any aquatic animal they can find with their sensitive whiskers. All tenrecs are believed to descend from a common ancestor that lived 29–37 million years (Ma) ago<ref name="Everson2016" /><ref name="Douady2002" /><ref name="Poux2008" /> after rafting from Africa to Madagascar in a single event.<ref name = "BBC_rafting">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name = "Ali&Huber">Template:Cite journal</ref> Tenrecs are widely diverse; as a result of convergent evolution they resemble hedgehogs, shrews, opossums or mice. All tenrecs appear to be at least somewhat omnivorous, with invertebrates forming the largest part of their diets.

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