Nimba otter shrew

The Nimba otter shrew is a small-bodied mammal. Weighing only about it has a body length of with a quarter to a third of its body size being its tail. It has been described as a "miniature sea otter with a rat tail". Its pelage is long, hiding its ears and eyes, and almost always universally colored (usually brown, but black and gray otter shrews have been spotted). ==Evolution and life history==

The Nimba otter shrew is classified as a member of Potamogalidae, which is related to afrotherian tenrecs, based on morphological structures. Molecular data also support the relationship.{{cite journal|last=van Dijk|first=M.O.|author2=O. Madsen|author3=F. Catzeflis|author4=M. Stanhope|author5=W. de Jong|author6=M. Pagel|title=Protein sequence signatures support the African clade of mammals|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |year=2011|volume=98|issue=1|pages=188–193 |pmid=11114173 |pmc=14566 ==Ecology and behavior==

The Nimba otter shrew is nocturnal and semiaquatic. The breeding pattern of the Nimba otter shrew is also unknown, but believed to be polygamous; as there have been no witnessed accounts of breeding in the wild and the Nimba otter shrew has not mated in captivity. ==Conservation status==

The IUCN had listed the Nimba otter shrew as endangered in 1990, but in 2018 the status was changed to vulnerable. At this rate the Nimba otter shrew was predicted to be extinct between 2017 and 2020. The population within Liberia's East Nimba Nature Reserve was reported healthy in 2013. The species is also present in the Mount Nimba Strict Nature Reserve of Guinea and Côte d'Ivoire, but this reserve is adjacent to a mining operation and is not fully protected from poaching. ==References==