White-toothed shrew

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Crocidurinae [1]
Temporal range: Miocene to Recent
Brehms - Crocidura russulus.jpg
Greater white-toothed shrew ( Crocidura russula )
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Eulipotyphla
Family: Soricidae
Subfamily: Crocidurinae
Type genus
Crocidura
Wagler, 1832
Genera

see species list

The white-toothed shrews or Crocidurinae are one of three subfamilies of the shrew family Soricidae.

Contents

The outer layer of these shrews' teeth is white, unlike that of the red-toothed shrews. These species are typically found in Africa and southern Europe and Asia. This subfamily includes the largest shrew, the Asian house shrew, Suncus murinus, at about 15 cm in length, and the smallest, the Etruscan shrew, Suncus etruscus, at about 3.5 cm in length and 2 grams in weight. The latter is possibly the world's smallest extant mammal, although some give this title to the bumblebee bat. Crocidura contains the most species of any mammal genus.

When young must be moved before they are independent, mother and young form a chain or "caravan" where each animal hangs on to the rear of the one in front. This behaviour has also been observed in some Sorex species.

List of species

Subfamily Crocidurinae

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shrew</span> Family of mammals

Shrews are small mole-like mammals classified in the order Eulipotyphla. True shrews are not to be confused with treeshrews, otter shrews, elephant shrews, West Indies shrews, or marsupial shrews, which belong to different families or orders.

<i>Crocidura</i> Genus of mammals

The genus Crocidura is one of nine genera of the shrew subfamily Crocidurinae. Members of the genus are commonly called white-toothed shrews or musk shrews, although both also apply to all of the species in the subfamily. With over 180 species, Crocidura contains the most species of any mammal genus. The name Crocidura means "woolly tail", because the tail of Crocidura species are covered in short hairs interspersed with longer ones.

References

  1. Hutterer, R. (2005). Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 224–263. ISBN   978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC   62265494.
  2. Pskhun (2021-05-03). "Species New to Science: [Mammalogy • 2021] Crocidura narcondamica • A New Mammal Species (Eulipotyphla: Soricidae) from Narcondam Volcanic Island, India". Species New to Science. Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  3. Esselstyn, J.A.; Goodman, S.M. (2010). "New species of shrew (Soricidae: Crocidura) from Sibuyan Island, Philippines". Journal of Mammalogy. 91 (6): 1467–1472. doi: 10.1644/10-MAMM-A-002.1 .
  4. Jenkins, P.; Abramov, A.; Bannikova, А.; Rozhnov, V. (2013). "Bones and genes: Resolution problems in three Vietnamese species of Crocidura (Mammalia, Soricomorpha, Soricidae) and the description of an additional new species". ZooKeys (313): 61–79. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.313.4823 . PMC   3701231 . PMID   23840165.
  5. Demos, T.C.; Achmadi, A.S.; Handika, H.; Maharadatunkamsi; Rowe, K.C.; Esselstyn, J.A. (2016). "A new species of shrew (Soricomorpha: Crocidura) from Java, Indonesia: possible character displacement despite interspecific gene flow". Journal of Mammalogy: gyw183. doi: 10.1093/jmammal/gyw183 .
  6. Hutterer, R.; et al. (May 2018). "A new genus and species of shrew (Mammalia: Soricidae) from Palawan Island, Philippines". Journal of Mammalogy. 99 (3): 518–536. doi:10.1093/jmammal/gyy041.