Editing Tenrecomorpha (section)

{{Short description|Suborder of mammals}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| image = Lowland Streaked Tenrec, Mantadia, Madagascar.jpg
| image_caption = [[Lowland streaked tenrec]] (''Hemicentetes semispinosus'')
| image2 = Potamogale velox 340101862.jpg
| image2_caption = [[Giant otter shrew]] (''Potamogale velox'')
| taxon = Tenrecomorpha
| authority = Butler, 1972<ref name="Joysey1972">{{cite book|last= Butler|first=P. M.|editor1-first=K. A.|editor1-last= Joysey|editor2-first= T. S.|editor2-last= Kemp|title=Studies in Vertebrate Evolution: Essays Presented to F. R. Parrington|chapter= The problem of insectivore classification|pages= 253–265|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3v1wQgAACAAJ|year=1972|publisher=Oliver and Boyd|isbn=978-0-05-002131-6}}</ref>
| subdivision_ranks = Superfamilies and families
| subdivision = *[[Potamogaloidea]]
**†''[[Nanogale]]''
**[[Potamogalidae]]
*[[Tenrecoidea]]
**†''[[Plesiorycteropus]]''
**[[Tenrecidae]]
| range_map = Tenrecomorpha Range.jpg
}}

'''Tenrecomorpha''' is the [[suborder]] of [[otter shrew]]s and [[tenrec]]s, a group of [[afrotherian]] [[mammal]]s indigenous to equatorial [[Africa]] and [[Madagascar]], respectively.<ref name = MSW3>{{MSW3 Afrosoricida | id = 11100002 | pages = 72–77}}</ref><ref name="Everson2016" /> The two families are thought to have split about 47–53 million years ago.<ref name="Everson2016">{{cite journal|last1= Everson|first1=K. M.|last2= Soarimalala|first2= V.|last3= Goodman|first3=S. M.|last4= Olson|first4= L. E.|title= Multiple Loci and Complete Taxonomic Sampling Resolve the Phylogeny and Biogeographic History of Tenrecs (Mammalia: Tenrecidae) and Reveal Higher Speciation Rates in Madagascar's Humid Forests|journal=Systematic Biology|volume= 65|issue= 5|year= 2016|pages= 890–909|doi= 10.1093/sysbio/syw034|pmid=27103169|doi-access= free}}</ref><ref name="Douady2002">{{cite journal|last1= Douady|first1=C. J.|last2= Catzeflis|first2= F.|last3= Kao|first3=D. J.|last4= Springer|first4=M. S.|last5= Stanhope|first5=M. J.|title= Molecular Evidence for the Monophyly of Tenrecidae (Mammalia) and the Timing of the Colonization of Madagascar by Malagasy Tenrecs|journal= Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution|volume= 22|issue= 3|year= 2002|pages= 357–363|doi= 10.1006/mpev.2001.1055|pmid=11884160|bibcode=2002MolPE..22..357D }}</ref><ref name="Poux2008">{{cite journal|last1= Poux|first1= C.|last2= Madsen|first2= O.|last3= Glos|first3= J.|last4=de Jong|first4=W. W.|last5= Vences|first5= M.|title= Molecular phylogeny and divergence times of Malagasy tenrecs: Influence of data partitioning and taxon sampling on dating analyses|journal= BMC Evolutionary Biology|volume= 8|issue= 1|year= 2008|pages= 102|doi= 10.1186/1471-2148-8-102|pmid= 18377639|pmc= 2330147|bibcode= 2008BMCEE...8..102P|doi-access= free}}</ref> [[Potamogalidae|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 [[aardvark]]s, which is known to be more closely related to tenrecs of subfamily [[Tenrecinae]] than to golden moles of suborder [[Chrysochloridea]].<ref name="Buckley2013">{{cite journal|last1= Buckley|first1= M.|title=A Molecular Phylogeny of ''Plesiorycteropus'' Reassigns the Extinct Mammalian Order 'Bibymalagasia'|journal= PLOS ONE|volume= 8|issue= 3|year= 2013|pages= e59614|doi= 10.1371/journal.pone.0059614|pmid= 23555726|pmc= 3608660|bibcode= 2013PLoSO...859614B|doi-access= free}}</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 [[Oceanic dispersal|rafting]] from Africa to Madagascar in a single event.<ref name = "BBC_rafting">{{Cite web | last = Kinver | first = M. | title = Mammals 'floated to Madagascar' | work = BBC News web site | publisher = [[BBC]] | date = 2010-01-20 | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/sci_tech/green_room/8468163.stm | access-date = 2010-01-20}}</ref><ref name = "Ali&Huber">{{Cite journal | last = Ali | first = J. R. |author2=Huber, M. | title = Mammalian biodiversity on Madagascar controlled by ocean currents | journal = [[Nature (journal)|Nature]] | volume = 463 | issue = 4 Feb. 2010 | pages = 653–656 | publisher = [[Nature Publishing Group]] | date = 2010-01-20 | doi = 10.1038/nature08706 | pmid = 20090678 | bibcode=2010Natur.463..653A| s2cid = 4333977 }}</ref> Tenrecs are widely diverse; as a result of [[convergent evolution]] they resemble [[hedgehog]]s, [[shrew]]s, [[opossum]]s or [[mouse|mice]].  All tenrecs appear to be at least somewhat [[omnivore|omnivorous]], with [[invertebrate]]s forming the largest part of their diets.