Sorex excelsus, G. M. Allen, 1923
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publication ID |
https://doi.org/ 10.5281/zenodo.6870843 |
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DOI |
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6871044 |
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persistent identifier |
https://treatment.plazi.org/id/3D474A54-A02A-8747-FA09-A2F5169FFB0D |
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treatment provided by |
Felipe |
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scientific name |
Sorex excelsus |
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Chinese Highland Shrew
French: Musaraigne des sommets / German: Chinesische Hochland-Spitzmaus / Spanish: Musarana de tierras altas de China
Other common names: Highland Shrew, Lofty Shrew, Yunnan Shrew
Taxonomy. Sorex excelsus G. M. Allen, 1923 View in CoL ,
“ summit of Ho-shan [= Xue Shan] , Pei-tai [= Baishuitai] , thirty miles [= 48 km] south of Chung-tien [= Zhongdian], Yunnan, China, altitude 13,000 feet [= 3962 m].”
Sorex excelsus has been recognized as valid species relative to S. asperand S. tundrenss. A recent molecular study strongly supported S. excelsus as a clade well embedded in S. bedfordiae , making the later paraphyletic.
Examination of holotypes of S. excelsus and S. b. gomphus from Yunnan found that skulls differed, indicating S. excelsus was a valid species, and taxonomic revision of S. bedfordiae was warranted. Monotypic.
Distribution. SE Qinghai, SE Tibet (= Xizang), W Sichuan (W of the Yalong River), and NW Yunnan, China. Specific status of specimens from Nepal assigned to this species cannot be confirmed. View Figure
Descriptive notes. Head-body 60-68 mm, tail 50-61 mm, hindfoot 13-16 mm; weight 5-10 g. Condylo-incisive lengths are 18-7-19-9 mm, and tooth rows are 7-5—8-7 mm. The Chinese Highland Shrew is medium-sized. Pelage is obviously bicolored. Dorsum is grayish brown, and venteris silvery gray. Tail is bicolored, brown above, and lighter below. Rostrum is long and attenuated at apex. Braincase is well domed in shape. There are five upper unicuspids,first two unicuspids are of similar sizes, and third and fourth unicuspids are similar in size but smaller than second. Apex and talon (posterior cusp) of upper incisor are low. Fifth upper unicuspid is much lower than the others and is barely visible in lateral view of the skull. Coronoid process on mandible is high.
Habitat. Broadleaf and coniferous forests and alpine rhododendron habitats at elevations of 2000-4000 m.
Food and Feeding. The Chinese Highland Shrew is insectivorous.
Breeding. No information.
Activity patterns. Most Chinese Highland Shrews were captured at night.
Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.
Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. There are no data regarding population size or density of the Chinese Highland Shrew, butitis common in museum collections in China. Its distribution overlapped with many conservation areas in China, so the overall population is unlikely to be declining.
Bibliography. Allen (1923), Chen Shunde et al. (2015), Hoffmann (1987), Smith & Yan Xie (2008).
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.
