Cryptotis cf. montivagus (Anthony)

VOSS, ROBERT S., 2003, A New Species of Thomasomys (Rodentia: Muridae) from Eastern Ecuador, with Remarks on Mammalian Diversity and Biogeography in the Cordillera Oriental, American Museum Novitates 3421, pp. 1-48 : 18

Cryptotis cf. montivagus (Anthony)

SPECIMENS COLLECTED: 7.5 km (by road) W Papallacta, 12,000 ft (UMMZ 155585); 6.2 km (by road) W Papallacta, 11,700 ft (UMMZ 155583, 155584, 155704, 155705).

OTHER MATERIAL: A single specimen (AMNH 63844) labeled ‘‘Guamanı´’’ on one side of the original label and ‘‘Cerro Guamanı´’’ on the other side was collected by the Olallas in 1922. Additional shrews from the Cordillera Oriental include one (MCN 150) collected at Papallacta by C. Olalla in 1931 and another (QCAZ 307) collected on Antisana by R. Sierra in 1985 (D. Tirira, personal commun.).

TAXONOMY: The Ecuadorean species of Cryptotis were recently reviewed by Vivar et al. (1997), who identified the Guamaní specimen (AMNH 63844) as C. montivagus . The five Papallacta shrews, collected only a few kilometers from Guamanı´, appear to be indistinguishable from AMNH 63844 and presumably represent the same taxon. However, measurements of these six specimens (from Papallacta and Guamanı´) indicate that they have slightly narrower zygomatic plates and broader interorbits than typical montivagus , and side­by­side comparisons reveal that they have much less robust anterior unicuspids than any specimen of the type series (AMNH 47197–47201; from Bestión, in the Ecuadorean province of Azuay). The possible taxonomic significance of these and other differences (V. Pacheco and N. Woodman, personal commun.) remain to be determined by a more comprehensive evaluation of character variation in Ecuadorean shrews.

REMARKS: In a previous list of Papallacta mammals ( Voss, 1988: table 43), I misidentified this material as Cryptotis thomasi ( Merriam, 1897) .

FIELD OBSERVATIONS: The five shrews that I collected near Papallacta in 1980 were taken at elevations ranging from 3570 to 3660 m. Of these, three were trapped on the ground in runways or small tunnels through moss in Subalpine Rain Forest, one was found dead on a trail in Subalpine Rain Forest, and one was trapped in a runway though tall grass at the páramo/forest ecotone.