Editing Tenrec (section)

==Evolution==

Tenrecs are believed to have evolved from a single species that colonized Madagascar between 42 and 25 million years ago. The question of how this family reached Madagascar is still unresolved, but the leading hypothesis suggests a small number of individuals may have found themselves on floating vegetation and crossed the [[Mozambique Channel]], which separates Madagascar from southeastern Africa.<ref name=":0" /> The Tenrecidae family is one of only four extant terrestrial mammal lineages to have colonized and diversified on Madagascar.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Everson |first1=Kathryn M. |last2=Soarimalala |first2=Voahangy |last3=Goodman |first3=Steven M. |last4=Olson |first4=Link E. |date=2016-04-21 |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 |pages=890–909 |doi=10.1093/sysbio/syw034 |pmid=27103169 |issn=1063-5157 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

Once established on Madagascar, tenrecs diversified to occupy various niches on the island. Many evolved resemblances to familiar but unrelated mammals that are not found on Madagascar. For instance, the two species of hedgehog tenrec possess coats of hardened spines and the ability to roll into a ball when threatened, characteristics similar to those of true [[hedgehog]]s. This example, along with others, demonstrates convergent evolution; it has provided evolutionary biologists with opportunities to study adaptation over evolutionary timescales.<ref name=":0"/>