Geogale is thought to have split from the ancestors of its sister clade, the subfamily Oryzorictinae, about 30 million years ago.

[3] The large-eared tenrec is a small shrew-like animal with short, soft fur, a long hairy tail and large projecting ears.

A litter consists of up to five blind, deaf and helpless young and these are weaned when between 21 and 33 days old, soon after their eyes have opened.

The population trend is unknown and although this tenrec has been recorded in various scattered areas of Madagascar, it is a small, inconspicuous animal and is likely to also be present in intervening locations.

It had been thought to be restricted to dry deciduous forest but it has now also been found in grassland and is probably more resilient to disturbed habitat than had previously been realised.