Crocidura poensis (Fraser, 1843)
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publication ID |
https://doi.org/ 10.5281/zenodo.6870843 |
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DOI |
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6871313 |
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persistent identifier |
https://treatment.plazi.org/id/3D474A54-A0A9-87C6-FA18-A16B1746F860 |
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treatment provided by |
Felipe |
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scientific name |
Crocidura poensis |
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Fraser’s White-toothed Shrew
French: Crocidure de Fernando Po / German: Fraser \Weil3zahnspitzmaus / Spanish: Musarana de Fraser
Other common names: Fraser's Shrew, Fraser's Musk Shrew
Taxonomy. Sorex (Crocidura) poensis Fraser, 1843 ,
Clarence , Fernando Po , (= Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea).
Crocidura poensis seems to be sister to the recently described C. fingui and together they are closely related to C. buettikoferi , C. theresae , and C. grandiceps , although a larger phylogeny including all recognized species is needed to truly identify evolutionary relationships among all species in the clade listed under C. buettikoferi . Nev-
ertheless, specimens used in that study were mostly out of the distribution described here but were almost completely in the distribution of C. bates. F. Jacquet in 2012 suggested that C. batesiand C. poensis should be considered conspecific, and L. M. Ceriaco and colleagues in 2015 seemed to follow this by stating that C. poensis from West Africa is misidentified; distribution of C. poensis includes Cameroon, south-western Central African Republic, Gabon, Republic of the Congo, southern DR Congo, northern Zambia, and Bioko Island, which includes many regions that neither C. batesi nor C. poen-
sis have been recorded from according to the literature (namely south-western DR Congo and Zambia) and does not include West African and Nigerian populations that are typically identified as C. poensis . Ceriaco and colleagues did not identify what species the West African populations represented, so they are still recognized as C. poensis here. Because ofthis ambiguity and confusion involving distribution and taxonomy, C. batesi and C. poensis are recognized as distinct, with their traditionally known distributions reported here. Nevertheless, there is a good chance that both species are conspecific and their distributions are much wider and might not include West African populations reported here. Monotypic.
Distribution. Guinea and Sierra Leone E to S Ghana (although these are apparently misidentified), Nigeria, Cameroon, and BiokoI; records reported from SW DR Congo and N Zambia are here attributed to Bates’s White-toothed Shrew ( C. batesi ), although exact placement ofthese specimens is uncertain. View Figure
Descriptive notes. Head-body 71-98 mm, tail 46-66 mm, ear 614 mm, hindfoot 9-17 mm; weight 8-20 g. Fraser’s White-toothed Shrew is relatively large. Dorsum is dark brown to blackish, and venter is paler grayish brown. Ears are prominent, and limbs are dark. Feet are brown to dark brown. Tail is ¢.75% of head-body length, thin, dark brown, and covered with short bristle hairs over about two-thirds ofits length. There is an oval-shaped lateral scent gland on flanks surrounded by short stiff hairs; these glands exude a greasy secretion with a musky odor. There are three unicuspids. Chromosomal complement has 2n = 52 and 53 and FN = 70 and 72 in Ivory Coast, which might not represent Fraser’s White-toothed Shrew.
Habitat. Primary and secondary lowland evergreen rainforests and relict forests at elevations up to 1000 m. Fraser’s White-toothed Shrews have also been recorded from rough grass, farmland, plantations, and garden, and near human dwellings.
Food and Feeding. Fraser's White-toothed Shrew mostly eats invertebrates, including species of Gryllidae, Dilopoda , Coleoptera, Heteroptera , Formicidae , Lepidoptera (larvae), and Araneae in Nigeria. Arthropods and particularly insects make up the largest proportion ofdiets, and captive individuals feed on grasshoppers and mantises. Mean energy consumption has been recorded at 3-5 kJ]/g body weight/day for captive individuals weighing 14-20 g.
Breeding. A pregnant Fraser’s White-toothed Shrew with three embryos was captured in June in Cameroon. Embryo counts are 1-4/female (mean three embryos).
Activity patterns. Fraser’s White-toothed Shrew is mostly nocturnal but has sometimes been recorded during the day, increasing activity right before dawn.
Movements, Home range and Social organization. Fraser's White-toothed Shrew is aggressive and solitary but has partially overlapping home ranges with conspecifics.
Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. Fraser’s White-toothed Shrew has a wide distribution with no major threats, although there is considerable taxonomic ambiguity and additional research is needed.
Bibliography. Barriére et al. (2005), Brosset (1988), Cassola (2016at), Cerfaco et al. (2015), Churchfield (1982a), Churchfield & Hutterer (2013b), Grubb et al. (1998), Hutterer & Happold (1983), Jacquet (2012), Jones (1962).
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.
