Elephant shrews — including so-called “giant” species the size of a squirrel — are more closely related to elephants than to shrews. Elephant shrews, or sengis, are native to Africa and, like antelopes on the savanna, “run like the wind,” Rathbun says. The mouse-sized Etendeka round-eared sengi (Macroscelides micus) was recently discovered, making 19 known elephant shrew species.