Feroculus feroculus (Kelaart 1850)

Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn, 2005, Order Soricomorpha, Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3 rd Edition), Volume 1, Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, pp. 220-311 : 256

Feroculus feroculus (Kelaart 1850)

[Feroculus] feroculus (Kelaart 1850) , J. Ceylon Br. Asiat. Soc., 2 (5): 211.

Type Locality: Sri Lanka, C mountains at 6,000 ft. (1829 m), Nuwara Eliya.

Vernacular Names: Kelaart's Long-clawed Shrew.

Synonyms: Feroculus newera (Wagner 1855) ; Feroculus newera-ellia (Kelaart 1851) .

Distribution: Primary swamps and forests in the C highlands of Sri Lanka, and montane swamps and marshes between 2200 and 2400 m at the border between Kerala and Tamil Nadu, S India.

Conservation: IUCN – Endangered.

Discussion: A rare and little-known species; available information summarized by Phillips (1980). Indian records confirmed by Pradhan et al. (1997). Their specimens showed smaller bodies and longer tails compared to specimens from Sri Lanka. Blanford (1888) also noted the presence of this shrew in the Palni Hills, S India.