Mole shrew

Last updated April 25, 2019

A mole shrew is a shrew that resembles a mole. Species with that name include:

The shrew is a small mole-like mammal classified in the order Eulipotyphla. True shrews are not to be confused with treeshrews, otter shrews, elephant shrews, or the West Indies shrews, which belong to different families or orders.

Moles are small mammals adapted to a subterranean lifestyle. They have cylindrical bodies; velvety fur; very small, inconspicuous ears and eyes; reduced hindlimbs; and short, powerful forelimbs with large paws adapted for digging.

Two species in the genus Surdisorex , native to Kenya:
- Aberdare mole shrew (Surdisorex norae)
- Mt. Kenya mole shrew (Surdisorex polulus)
Four species in the genus Anourosorex , native to Asia:
- Assam mole shrew (Anourosorex assamensis)
- Giant mole shrew (Anourosorex schmidi)
- Chinese mole shrew (Anourosorex squamipes).
- Taiwanese mole shrew (Anourosorex yamashinai)
The giant mole shrew is a species of red-toothed shrew native to the southeastern slopes of the Himalaya of Bhutan and India.
The Chinese mole shrew is one of four species of Asian mole shrew in the genus Anourosorex.
The Taiwanese mole shrew is one of four species of red-toothed shrews in the genus Anourosorex. This species is endemic to Taiwan.

Surdisorex is a genus of mammals in the family Soricidae. Surdisorex is one of three genera of African shrews, which, in turn, are one of three living subfamilies of shrews. Species in the genus Surdisorex are called African mole shrews because of their similarity to moles, to which they are not closely related.

The Aberdare mole shrew is a species of mammal in the family Soricidae endemic to the Aberdare Mountains in Kenya. Its natural habitat is tropical high-altitude bamboo and grassland.

The Assam mole shrew is a species of red-toothed shrew endemic to northeast India.

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The order Afrosoricida contains the golden moles of southern Africa, the otter shrews of equatorial Africa and the tenrecs of Madagascar. These three families of small mammals have traditionally been considered to be a part of the order Insectivora, a wastebasket taxon, and were later included in Lipotyphla after Insectivora was abandoned, before Lipotyphla was also found to be polyphyletic.

The family Talpidae includes the moles, shrew moles, desmans, and other intermediate forms of small insectivorous mammals of the order Eulipotyphla. Talpids are all digging animals to various degrees: moles are completely subterranean animals; shrew moles and shrew-like moles somewhat less so; and desmans, while basically aquatic, excavate dry sleeping chambers; whilst the quite unique star-nosed mole is equally adept in the water and underground. Talpids are found across the Northern Hemisphere and southern Asia, Europe, and North America, although none are found in Ireland nor in the Americas south of northern Mexico.

The red-toothed shrews of the subfamily Soricinae are one of three living subfamilies of shrews, along with Crocidurinae and Myosoricinae. In addition, the family contains the extinct subfamilies Limnoecinae, Crocidosoricinae, Allosoricinae and Heterosoricinae. These species are typically found in North America, northern South America, Europe and northern Asia. The enamel of the tips of their teeth is reddish due to iron pigment. The iron deposits serve to harden the enamel and are concentrated in those parts of the teeth most subject to wear.

The shrew moles (Uropsilus)' are shrew-like members of the mole family of mammals endemic to the forested, high-alpine region bordering China, Myanmar, and Vietnam. They possess a long snout, a long slender tail, external ears, and small forefeet unspecialized for burrowing. Although they are similar to shrews in size, external appearance, and, presumably, ecological habits, they are nevertheless talpids and considered true moles, as they share a full zygomatic arch with all other moles, while this arch is completely absent in shrews.

The Mount Kenya mole shrew is a species of mammal in the family Soricidae endemic to Mount Kenya in Kenya. Its natural habitat is tropical high-altitude bamboo and grassland.

According to the current taxonomy, the Myosoricinae are a subfamily of shrews. As such, they form one of three main types of shrews, the other two being the red-toothed shrews and the white-toothed shrews. They are the only one of the three to be found exclusively south of the Sahara Desert, and so they have been described in English as the African shrews, but also many white-toothed shrews are in Africa and therefore this term is more generally used for shrews from Africa in general. The subfamily has three genera and 20 species:

Asian mole shrews (Anourosorex) are a genus of shrews that resemble moles, from China, Taiwan, India, and Indochina. They are the only known genus of the Anourosoricini tribe of red-toothed shrews. The four known species are:

A unicuspid is a tooth that has only one cusp.

Represented by a single specimen, the Mount Elgon mole shrew is a species of African mole shrew known to date only from the ericaceous zone of Mt. Elgon in Western Kenya. In 1984, a specimen of the genus Surdisorex was collected on a footpath at 3,150 m (10,330 ft) of the Kenyan slope of Mt. Elgon. It was described as the third member of the genus Surdisorex by Kerbis Peterhans et al. (2009). On the basis of skull length measurements, Surdisorex schlitteri is intermediate between S. norae and S. polulus in size. The scientific name honors Dr. Duane Schlitter, in recognition of his substantial contributions to the understanding of African small mammals and his longstanding support of Kenyan scientific research. The Mount Elgon mole shrew is listed as "data deficient" because it is only known from a single specimen.