Blarinella wardi, Thomas, 1915

Russell A. Mittermeier & Don E. Wilson, 2018, Soricidae, Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 8 Insectivores, Sloths and Colugos, Barcelona: Lynx Edicions, pp. 332-551 : 446

142.

Burmese Short-tailed Shrew

Blarinella wardi

French: Musaraigne de Ward / German: Burma-Kurzschwanzspitzmaus / Spanish: Musarafa colicorta de Birmania

Other common names: Southern Short-tailed Shrew, Ward's Short-tailed Shrew

Taxonomy. Blarinella wardi Thomas, 1915 ,

“ Hpimaw , Upper Burma [= Myanmar], about 26° N., 98° 35" E. Alt. 8000’ [= 2400 m] -

Blarinella wardi was included in B. quadraticauda as a subspecies. Species boundary between B. wardi and B. griselda is not entirely clear. Monotypic.

Distribution. NE y Myanmar and SW China (NW & W Yunnan).

Descriptive notes. Head-body 60-69 mm, tail 32-43 mm, hindfoot 10-5-13 mm. No specific data are available for body weight. Condylo-incisive lengths are 18:5-19-9 mm, tooth rows are 6-9-8 mm. The Burmese Short-tailed Shrew is the smallest of the short-tailed shrews. It is similar to the Indochinese Short-tailed Shrew ( B. griselda ) but smaller and with narrower skull and braincase. Cranial breadth of B. wardi is usually smaller than 8-7 mm, whereas in B. quadraticauda is usually greater than 9-3 mm and in B. griselda is 8-:5-9-6 mm. Most teeth are heavily pigmented, which is most obvious on upperincisors. It has five upper unicuspids, third upper unicuspid is greatly reduced, and fourth is subequal to three-fourths the height of third.

Habitat. Forests, including openings and edges. The Burmese Short-tailed Shrew was found as high as 2400 m in northern Myanmar and is most common at elevations of 1600-3000 m in southern China.

Food and Feeding. The Burmese Short-tailed Shrew is insectivorous.

Breeding. No information.

Activity patterns. Burmese Short-tailed Shrews are semi-fossorial and good diggers. Specimens were captured at night.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. In northern Myanmar (= Burma), the Burmese Short-tailed Shrew is threatened by deforestation. In China, it is probably not declining because its distribution only slightly overlaps with human settlements.

Bibliography. Chen Shunde et al. (2012), Jiang Xuelong et al. (2003).

Figures

136. Elliot’s Short-tailed Shrew (Blarina hulophaga), 137. Northern Short-tailed Shrew (Blarina brevicaudus), 138. Southern Short-tailed Shrew (Blarina carolinensis), 139. Everglades Short-tailed Shrew (Blarina peninsulae), 140. Sherman’s Short-tailed Shrew (Blarina shermani), 141. Sichuan Short-tailed Shrew (Blarinella quadraticauda), 142. Burmese Short-tailed Shrew (Blarinella wardi), 143. Indochinese Short-tailed Shrew (Blarinella griselda), 144. Chinese Mole Shrew (Anourosorex squamaipes), 145. Taiwanese Mole Shrew (Anowrosorex yamashinai), 146. Assam Mole Shrew (Anowrosorex assamensis), 147. Giant Mole Shrew (Anourosorex schmid), 148. Desert Gray Shrew (Notiosorex crawfordi), 149. Cockrum’s Gray Shrew (Notiosorex cockrumi), 150. Large-eared Gray Shrew (Notiosorex evolis), 151. Villa’s Gray Shrew (Notiosorex villa), 152. Mexican Shrew (Megasorex gigas), 153. Taiwanese Brown-toothed (Shrew Epusoriculusfumidus), 154. Arboreal Brown-toothed Shrew (Episoriculus macrurus), 155. Bailey's Brown-toothed Shrew (Episoriculus baileyi), 156. Long-tailed Brown-toothed Shrew (Episoriculus leucops), 157. Hodgson’s Brown-toothed Shrew (Episoriculus caudatus), 158. Sichuan Brown-toothed Shrew (Episoriculus sacratus), 159. Hidden Brown-toothed Shrew (Episoriculus umbrinus), 160. Nepalese Brown-toothed Shrew (Episoriculus soluensis), 161. Himalayan Shrew (Soriculus nigrescens), 162. De Winton’s Brown-toothed Shrew (Chodsigoa hypsibia), 163. Pygmy Brown-toothed Shrew (Chodsigoa parva), 164. Smith’s Brown-toothed Shrew (Chodsigoa smithii), 165. Salenski’s Brown-toothed Shrew (Chodsigoa salenskii), 166. Dusky Brown-toothed Shrew (Chodsigoa furva), 167. Lesser Taiwanese Brown-toothed Shrew (Chodsigoa sodalis), 168. Van Sung’s Brown-toothed Shrew (Chodsigoa caovansunga), 169. Hoffmann’s Brown-toothed Shrew (Chodsigoa hoffmanni), 170. Lowe’s Brown-toothed Shrew (Chodsigoa parca), 171. Bornean Water Shrew (Chimarrogale phaeura), 172. Sumatran Water Shrew (Chimarrogale sumatrana), 173. Malayan Water Shrew (Chimarrogale hantu), 174. Chinese Water Shrew (Chimarrogale styani), 175. Himalayan Water Shrew (Chimarrogale himalayica), 176. Leander’s Water Shrew (Chimarrogale leander), 177. Japanese Water Shrew (Chimarrogale platycephala), 178. Elegant Water Shrew (Nectogale elegans), 179. Mediterranean Water Shrew (Neomys anomalus), 180. Transcaucasian Water (Shrew Neomysteres), 181. Eurasian Water Shrew (Neomys fodiens)

Distribution. NE y Myanmar and SW China (NW & W Yunnan).