Crocidura cyanea (Duvernoy, 1838)
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publication ID |
https://doi.org/ 10.5281/zenodo.6870843 |
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DOI |
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6870399 |
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persistent identifier |
https://treatment.plazi.org/id/3D474A54-A057-873B-FF15-A13915E7F999 |
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treatment provided by |
Felipe |
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scientific name |
Crocidura cyanea |
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Reddish-gray White-toothed Shrew
French: Crocidure ardoisée / German: Rotgraue WeiRRzahnspitzmaus / Spanish: Musarafa gris rojiza
Other common names: Reddish-gray Shrew
Taxonomy. Sorex cyaneus Duvernoy, 1838 ,
“ La riviere des Elephants, au sud de I’Afrique [= the Elephant River in Southern Africa ].” Restricted by G. C. Shortridge in 1942 to “Citrusdal, South Africa.”
Crocidura cyanea seems to be basal to a large clade including C. silacea , C. bates, C. foxi , C. buettikoferi , C. theresae , C. grandiceps , and C. wimmer: with C. mariquensis and C. hildegardeae being more basal to the clade than C. cyanea . This large clade issis-
ter to a clade including C. crenata , C. fuscomurina , C. crossei , C. jouvenetae , and C. lusitania . Crocidura cyanea might represent a species complex, although additional genetic and morphometric research is needed to determine its taxonomic limits. Monotypic.
Distribution. Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, E Botswana, South Africa, Swaziland, Lesotho, Namibia, and extreme SW Angola. View Figure
Descriptive notes. Head—body 67-93 mm (males) and 68-89 mm (females), tail 42— 69 mm (males) and 33-55 mm (females), ear 811 mm (males) and 7-5-11 mm (females), hindfoot 11-14-5 mm (males) and 12-14 mm (females). No specific data are available for body weight. The Reddish-gray White-toothed Shrew is medium-sized to large; males seem to be larger than females. Dorsal pelage is brownish gray, grizzled with pale yellow; individual hairs are slate-gray basally and brown-tipped, with pale gray or yellowish subterminal band. Venter is paler gray, with yellow or burnt tinge in older individuals; hairs are slate-gray-based with silvery gray tips. Western individuals are generally paler than eastern individuals. Feet are yellow to pale brown. Tail is c.69% of head-body length,relatively hairy and covered with longerbristle hairs, and bicolored, being pale to dark brown above and paler below. Females have six inguinal nipples. There are three unicuspids.
Habitat. Various habitats such as montane forests and grasslands, vleis (grassy or marshy wetland), dense shrubs, savannas, grasslands, and rocky outcrops. In central Namibia, there is a uniquely adapted population of cave-dwelling Reddish-gray Whitetoothed Shrews that goes ¢.150 m into the cave and thrives on invertebrates.
Food and Feeding. Diets of the Reddish-gray White-toothed Shrew include a variety of invertebrates. In cave-dwelling individuals in Namibia, it seems to survive on ptinid beetles, apterous crickets, and pseudoscorpions and might even eat carcasses of bats roosting in the cave.
Breeding. Breeding of Reddish-gray White-toothed Shrews occurs during the wet season (September—April), although a pregnant female was found in the dry season (July) in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. Reddish-gray White-toothed Shrews probably can breed year-round and opportunistically. Litters have 2-6 young (mean 3-3).
Activity patterns. Reddish-gray White-toothed Shrews are primarily nocturnal.
Movements, Home range and Social organization. Reddish-gray White-toothed Shrews are solitary.
Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. The Reddish-gray White-toothed Shrew is common throughout much ofits distribution and seems to have no major threats.
Bibliography. Baxter & Dippenaar (2013a), Baxter et al. (2016), Heim de Balsac & Meester (1977), Lynch (1994), Marais & Irish (1990), Meester (1963), Rathbun (2005), Rautenbach (1982), Shortridge (1942), Smithers & Wilson (1979b), Taylor (1998), Vogel et al. (2013).
No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.
