Sengis

Comments

Glasgow Museums has a collection of four sengis specimens (Macroscelididae) and related documents from 1908.

This collection contains four mounted specimens, which represent two species – the checkered sengi (Rhynchocyon cirnei) and the four-toed sengi (Petrodromus tetradactylus). All of the specimens in the collection come from Mulanje, Malawi. They were collected by Henry Brown, a Scottish man who moved to Malawi (then called Nyasaland and a British protectorate) in the late 1800s, during the expansion of the British Empire, to manage a tea plantation. Brown collected extensively for Glasgow Museums and the collection also contains a set of his letters.

About sengis
Sengis look like large true shrews but are a biological order in their own right. The family Macroscelididae contains 15 species, found in north, east, central and southern Africa. They are widespread but uncommon and little was known about them until the mid-1900s. They live in forests and eat insects, spiders, worms and plants.

Broader term

Mammals

Staff Contact

Robyn Haggard

Key Objects

Key Objects