Crocidura russula (Hermann 1780)

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 : 248

Crocidura russula (Hermann 1780)

[Sorex] russula Hermann 1780 , in: Zimmermann, Geogr. Gesch. Mensch. Vierf. Thiere, Vol. 2: 382.

Type Locality: France, Bas Rhin, near Strasbourg.

Vernacular Names: Greater White-toothed Shrew.

Subspecies: :

Subspecies Crocidura russula subsp. russula Hermann 1780

Subspecies Crocidura russula subsp. cintrae Miller 1907

Subspecies Crocidura russula subsp. osorio Molina and Hutterer 1989

Subspecies Crocidura russula subsp. peta Montagu and Pickford 1923

Subspecies Crocidura russula subsp. pulchra Cabrera 1907

Subspecies Crocidura russula subsp. yebalensis Cabrera 1913

Distribution: S and W Europe including some Atlantic isls off France and Great Britain; N Africa ( Morocco; Algeria; Canary Isls).

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (lc) as C. russula, Vulnerable as C. osorio .

Discussion: Reviewed by Genoud and Hutterer (1990). The species is confined to W Europe and N Africa. Many populations from Asia and Africa have been erroneously assigned to russula (see Ellermann and Morrison-Scott, 1951). Allozyme and karyotype analyses by Catzeflis et al. (1985) have shown that animals from E Europe, Asia Minor, and Israel formerly identified as russula instead belong to suaveolens . This may also be true for other populations further east. Does not include hosletti, rapax , or vorax (as in Ellerman and Morrison-Scott, 1966:81; Jameson and Jones, 1977:465); see under species shantungensis , rapax , and vorax . Does not include ichnusae (= cossyrensis ); see under that species. Recent morphological (Hutterer, unpubl.) and genetic studies ( Vogel et al., 2003) suggest that osorio is a peripheral population of C. russula , possibly introduced by man, although differences in size, ecology, and behavior ( Hutterer et al., 1992 b) characterize it as a distinct island form.