Comments on: New Giant: First Elephant-Shrew In 126 Years

By: Saint Vitus

Saint Vitus — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 22:31:02 +0000

I wasn’t able to find much info about the miniature water elephants, but apparently they are altered, taxidermied water shrews. Water shrews are mildly venomous in real life, which is probably the origin of the venomous water elephant legend. I looked up elephant shrews as well and it turns out they still have them at the National Zoo, I’ll have to go back and see them sometime.

By: Saint Vitus

Saint Vitus — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 17:39:57 +0000

I remember seeing an “Unsolved Mystery” type show about the “water elephants” a long time ago-I thought it was the weirdest thing I had ever seen. They were pretty small, so I think they were just regular shrews instead of elephant shrews, but I don’t remember what they turned out to really be.

By: Bob Michaels

Bob Michaels — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 01:27:27 +0000

Great news, What is the reproductive rate of the Sengi?

By: Richard888

Richard888 — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 01:04:28 +0000

This is a very interesting discovery.

It is like the Pyrenean Desman of Africa.

By: youcantryreachingme

youcantryreachingme — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 23:01:30 +0000

I thought elephant shrews were used in Thailand and Myanmar to produce those “water elephants” - but this article suggests they exist only in Africa.

By: gavinfundyk

gavinfundyk — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 17:12:50 +0000

It’s great to see a discovery like this. 126 years and no one knew it existed. And it appears that the scientists had searched the area many times.
It’s nice to know that something caught on film wasn’t decried as a hoax!

By: Saint Vitus

Saint Vitus — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 15:39:54 +0000

Elephant shrews are pretty cool. I think they had one (a different species obviously) at the National Zoo if I remember correctly. I might be thinking of a tree shrew though. Anyway, they are fascinating little creatures.