The varied elephant shrew is a small mammal with a long flexible snout. It lives in the forests of East Africa, runs and jumps quickly in search of insects.
The varied elephant shrew differs from other shrews with its bright checkered pattern on the back. It helps the forest ecosystem by eating a large number of insects and serving as food for predators.
homogamy, reproduction always with fertilization, no alternation of generations
Worker
Tail size
birth time
bottom
breeding
Dogs, dolphins, lynx hang out for 9-25 years and party on their birthday three times a year
m
Map
will celebrate their {n} birthday
g
t
When your next jubilee falls in {name} life years
Human
hot Africa south of the desert, many savannas and forests
live ants of all castes and sizes
very hot and very humid all year round, rain almost every day
days
Warm summer
How old you would be if you lived as {name}
Theoretical maximum lifespan estimated from the Dynamic Energy Budget (DEB) mathematical model. This value reflects a biological potential derived from metabolic parameters, not from direct observation — real recorded lifespans are often significantly shorter.
adult
Maturity
About health
When your next birthday would fall if you lived as {name}
Snout color
Repro interval
results
protection from predators
Eyes count
summer warm, winter not very cold
Colors
Sex
Upcoming jubilees
Gremllins
mo
hot, rains in summer, little precipitation in winter
little precipitation in winter, more in summer
Trophic type
Filters
ants
always hot and humid, huge trees and vines
Upcoming birthdays
Breeding structure built or used for laying eggs and raising offspring.
searching and catching prey with a long snout on the forest floor
eggs, roe or offspring develop in a nest built on the ground or close to it
Truly long lives: 40-100 years. Bowhead whales, albatrosses, giant tortoises recall their birthday at most once a year
Lifespan
tongue
nest on the ground
young are born live on land, not hatched from eggs or roe
Age (juvenile)
Age (from birth to death)
Hot, little precipitation in winter
Foraging occurs on the floor of aquatic or terrestrial habitats.
Age (embryo)
Wanderers
Jubilee = every 10th birthday
Earliest developmental stage inside an egg or womb.
Business sausages
Lifespan average
nest located directly on the ground surface on land, only the mother provides parental care for the offspring
in a terrestrial nest
live birth
leaf litter
What do they look like?
Maturity
emergence (insects)
end of lifespan
hot, there is a dry season, trees shed their leaves
How do they live?
fertilization / egg laying
termites
How do they behave?
birth / hatching
metamorphosis / end of larval stage
end of acceleration
Share
Find a pet...
Mature, fully developed individual capable of reproduction.
hot, uneven rains, lots of grass and trees
Actively hunting and capturing live prey.
Pets
Tropical dry broadleaf forest
Feeding occurs primarily on land or in vegetation.
{name} jubilee
Eyes size
cm
Old-timers
Find an animal or breed...
turns
Rascals
terrestrial forest
Tail color
hot Africa south of the desert, many savannas and forests
Litter size
Tropical savanna
ants
Map data sources: Ecosystem classification — IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology (Keith et al., 2022), indicative distribution maps Keith et al. (2020), https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3546513; Large Marine Ecosystems — NOAA LME Program; Bathymetry — GEBCO Bathymetric Compilation Group (2026), GEBCO_2026 Grid, https://doi.org/10.5285/4f68d5c7-45eb-f999-e063-7086abc036fa; Climate data — Generated using Copernicus Climate Change Service information; Species occurrence data — GBIF.org, Derived dataset "all animals", https://zveriki.com/dataset/dataset.tsv; Terrestrial ecoregions — RESOLVE Ecoregions 2017 (Dinerstein et al., 2017), CC BY 4.0
How to care for them?
Living from 25 to 40 years. Orangutans, bald eagles, African elephants celebrate their birthday twice a year
°C
Not specified
Where are they found?
forest floor
Hind legs size
Low precipitation in winter
Locomotion through water employed while searching for or capturing prey.
Legendary longevity: over 100 years. Galapagos tortoises, Greenland sharks, ocean quahogs celebrate with family once every 4 years
Offspring
Tropical moist forest
Elders
Foraging among accumulated fallen leaves on the forest floor.
Bro
normal sexual
Taxons
if born as {name}
spiders
beetles
age
birth date
swimming
rest
Fur color
Close
was
Career from 7 to 15 months. Dwarf hamsters, voles, field crickets celebrate their birthday twice a month
The basics
climbing
My weight?
Non-stop carnival: they only live a few days. Mayflies, rotifers, midges celebrate their birthday more than twice a day
primary food sources
Potential Habitat
d
In husbandry
On the go from 1.3 to 3.5 years. Forest mice, anoles, rainbow fish party on their birthday once a month
Mass
Mosquitoes, fruit flies, small crustaceans hustle for up to 7 months and throw a birthday party every week
terrestrial
Gestation
from 130 grams to 0.5 kilograms, 0.35 – 0.8 meters
land
{name} birthday
grass
Always hot
No results found
Eyes color
On the map
lunge
all life stages
Female ♀
insectivore
world of Afrotropics
nest located directly on the ground surface on land
termites
Map data sources: Ecosystem classification — IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology (Keith et al., 2022), indicative distribution maps Keith et al. (2020), https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3546513; Large Marine Ecosystems — NOAA LME Program; Bathymetry — GEBCO Bathymetric Compilation Group (2026), GEBCO_2026 Grid, https://doi.org/10.5285/4f68d5c7-45eb-f999-e063-7086abc036fa; Climate data — Generated using Copernicus Climate Change Service information; Species occurrence data — GBIF.org, Derived dataset "all animals", https://zveriki.com/dataset/dataset.tsv; Terrestrial ecoregions — RESOLVE Ecoregions 2017 (Dinerstein et al., 2017), CC BY 4.0
Potential habitat modelled from GBIF occurrence data. Map © Zveriki.com, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
birth year
Shelter used specifically for reproduction or nesting.
Maturity
terrestrial habitat, land surface outside water
sq mm
yr
Snout size
How similar?
Male ♂
until the celebration
baby / chick
age as {name}
How do they breed?
On the go from 3.5 to 6 years. Hedgehogs, crows, lizards treat themselves to birthday snacks 6 times a year
What if eaten?
spiders
Neither
Moving up vertical surfaces like trunks or rocks to reach food.
live beetles — various species
Young offspring still dependent on parental care.
nest
caring mother
What do they eat?
Where do they live?
forests on land — tropical, temperate, boreal
world of Afrotropics
snout
Duration
Always hot and wet
This is me
Gamers
How are they built?
mm
Theoretical lifespan
ml
Stars
Link copied
My age?
wk
My size?
live spiders — arachnids of all sizes
terrestrial
Hind legs count
Asexual
swap
live termites
active predation
Rabbits, falcons, red-eared turtles hang out for 6-9 years and party on their birthday four times a year
Where do they take shelter?
Warm summer and lots of rain
inhabit and develop on land, outside water bodies
celebrated their {n} birthday
When you would have been born if you lived as {name}
very hot all year round, frequent rains, but sometimes dry
Daddies
Lifespan maximum
beetles
Hermaphrodite ⚥
Uses the tongue to locate, manipulate, or ingest food items.
embryo
Zucchini
Length
kg
lots of rain, warm and pleasant summer
Rapid forward strike to seize prey.
Observations
◉{N} more on tap