Distribution of sengis in the Horn of Africa

There are 19 recognized species of sengi or elephantshrew (supercohort Afrotheria, order Macroscelidea), and all are endemic to Africa. The greatest diversity of species is found in southern and eastern Africa, where their distribution and ecology are reasonably well understood. Among the least well-known species is the Somali sengi, Elephantulus revoilii, which is endemic to Somalia. For example, nearly the only information on this sengi is that gathered from 15 museum voucher specimens and presented in the near-definitive taxonomic revision of the order by Corbet and Hanks (1968). While determining whether there are any sengis in Djibouti, north of Somalia, we (PA and GI) re-examined and re-assessed the identification (criteria from Corbet and Hanks 1968) of sengi specimens in the Zoological Museum of the University of Florence. Although we found no sengi specimens from Djibouti, we discovered three specimens and associated data that extend the distribution of E. revoilii in Somalia, mostly to the south by about 475 km.