Ryukyu shrew

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Ryukyu shrew
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Eulipotyphla
Family: Soricidae
Genus: Crocidura
Species:
C. orii
Binomial name
Crocidura orii
Kuroda, 1924 [2]
Ryukyu Shrew area.png
Ryukyu Shrew range
Synonyms

Crocidura dsinezumi orii [2] (protonym)
Crocidura russula orii [3]

Contents

The Ryukyu shrew (Crocidura orii), also known as Orii's shrew, [1] is a species of mammal in the family Soricidae. This species is endemic to the Amami Islands of Japan and is threatened by habitat loss and invasive species. [4]

Taxonomy

Orii's shrew was first described, as a subspecies of the Dsinezumi shrew (Crocidura dsinezumi orii), by Kuroda Nagamichi in 1924; he named it after his collector, Orii Hyōjirō, who had provided the skin and skull of a single male from Amami Ōshima. [2] : 3  This type specimen, damaged during the initial trapping, [2] : 3  was destroyed by fire in 1945. [5] : 22  In their 1951 checklist, Ellerman and Morrison-Scott listed the shrew instead as a subspecies of the Greater white-toothed shrew (Crocidura russula orii). [3] : 81  In 1961, after the recovery of a second individual from the stomach of a hime habu or Ryukyu Island pit viper (Ovophis okinavensis), Yoshinori Imaizumi elevated the shrew to species rank, based on morphological comparison with other species of Crocidura . [5] In 1998, after the study of five further specimens from Amami Ōshima and Tokunoshima, Motokawa Masaharuja  [ ja ] confirmed this taxonomic treatment. [6]

Characteristics and Habitat

Orii's shrew is small in size, ranging from 65-90 millimeters on average. [4] The hairs on Orii's shrew may range from a light grey to brown color. [4] These hairs are longer than the hairs of any other species of the Crocidura genus by 2 millimeters on average. [4] The forefeet are large and wide with long claws and the tail is 50-66% of the length of the body on average. [4] Orii's shrew is characterized by having a long mandible, large teeth, and a round forehead. [4]

Orii's shrew is endemic to the Amami Islands in Japan. Orii's shrew only inhabits the natural broadleaf forests of the island, however, their morphology leads scientists to believe semi-fossorial habitats would be inhabitable. [4]

Conservation

Only 10 specimens of Orii's shrew have been observed. [1] The species was classified as endangered on the IUCN Red List in 2015 after the population began to decline. [1] This decline is due to the introduction of mongooses as predators [4] and the removal of natural forest space. [1] Mongooses have migrated to Amami Island and are killing shrews from an already small population [1] The habitat is being degraded and fragmented due to roads being built through the forest. [1] These roads have been continuously built and destroyed over the past 50 years, which continually degraded the environment and displaces the species. [1] Only 15-30% of the natural forests remain intact on Amami Island. [1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Laginha Pinto Correia, D. (2016). "Crocidura orii". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016: e.T5590A22302169. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-1.RLTS.T5590A22302169.en . Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Kuroda, N. (1924). On new mammals from the Riu Kiu Islands and the vicinity. Tokyo: Published by the author. pp. 1–14.
  3. 1 2 Ellerman, J.R.; Morrison-Scott, T.C.S. (1951). Checklist of Palaearctic and Indian mammals 1758 to 1946. British Museum (Natural History).
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Crocidura orii Kuroda 1924 - Plazi TreatmentBank". treatment.plazi.org. Retrieved 2025-03-22.
  5. 1 2 Imaizumi, Y. (1961). オリイジネズミの分類上の地位について[Taxonomic status of Crocidura dsinezumi orii]. Journal of the Mammalogical Society of Japan . 2 (1): 17–22. doi:10.11238/jmammsocjapan1952.2.17.
  6. ↑ Motokawa, M. (1998). "Reevaluation of the Orii's shrew, Crocidura dsinezumi orii Kuroda, 1924 (Insectivora, Soricidae) in the Ryukyu Archipelago, Japan". Mammalia. 62 (2): 249–267. doi:10.1515/mamm.1998.62.2.259.
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