Tenrecs
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Glasgow Museums has a collection of five tenrec specimens (Tenrecidae). These date from 1883 to 1982.
This collection is made up of mounted tenrec specimens, four of which were collected and sold to Glasgow Museums by William Deans Cowan (1844-1924) in 1883. Cowan was missionary with the London Missionary Society in the early 1880s. Cowan is historically significant as he also collected for the British Museum and some of his specimens were later described as new species, such as Cowan’s shrew tenrec, Microgale cowani. Cowan’s history also demonstrates how Scottish missionaries, sent abroad to convert people to Christianity, were able to collect and exploit nature for the British Empire.
About tenrecs
Tenrecs are relatively small hedgehog-like mammals, native to Madagascar. - Broader term
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