Sylvisorex howelli, Jenkins, 1984
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publication ID |
https://doi.org/ 10.5281/zenodo.6870843 |
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https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6870062 |
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persistent identifier |
https://treatment.plazi.org/id/3D474A54-A063-870F-FF2A-A13F1483FBCD |
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Felipe |
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scientific name |
Sylvisorex howelli |
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Howell's Forest Shrew
Sylvisorex howelli View in CoL
French: Pachyure de Howell / German: Howell-Waldmoschusspitzmaus / Spanish: Musarana de bosque de Howell
Other common names: Howell's Shrew, Uluguru Forest Shrew
Taxonomy. Sylvisorex howelli Jenkins, 1984, View in CoL
Morningside, Uluguru Mountains , Tanzania.
There is significant genetic distance between the six known populations of S. howelli that might correspond to distinct species or subspecies. Two subspecies recognized.
Subspecies and Distribution.
S.h.howelliJenkins,1984—UluguruMts,ECTanzania.
S. h. usambarensis Hutterer, 1986 — Usambara Mts, NE Tanzania. View Figure
Descriptive notes. Head-body 53-72 mm, tail 36-48 mm, ear 7-5-12 mm, hindfoot 9-13 mm; weight 2-5-5 g. Howell's Forest Shrew is small to medium-sized. Dorsum is dark chocolate brown, and venter is paler brown, with conspicuous demarcation between dorsum and venter. Tail is ¢.70% of head-body length; slightly bicolored, being
dark brown above and slightly lighter below; and covered with short hairs along entire length and some longer bristle hairs on basal two-thirds of tail. Overall, specimens from the East Usambara Mountains are smaller than specimens from other known populations and have shortest and narrowest skulls, possibly representing a distinct subspecies. Nominate howelli has larger and higher skull, and subspecies usambarensis has smaller and flatter skull. There are four unicuspids.
Habitat. Montane tropical moist forests at elevations above ¢.900-1000 m.
Food and Feeding. No information.
Breeding. A pregnant Howell's Forest Shrew with two embryos was found in West Usambara Mountains in August.
Activity patterns. Howell's Forest Shrews are terrestrial and nocturnal.
Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.
Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. Howell's Forest Shrew is common throughoutits distribution and has a reasonably large extent of occurrence (34,217 km?). Nevertheless,its distribution is fragmented, and there is continuing decline in extent and quality ofits habitat. It is threatened by habitat loss, largely from logging operations and conversion of land to agricultural uses. Within its distribution,it can be the most common species of shrew.
Bibliography. Hutterer (1986¢), Jenkins (1984), Kennerley (2016c), Stanley (2013k), Stanley & Olson (2005), Stanley, Kihaule et al. (1998).
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.
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Sylvisorex howelli
| Russell A. Mittermeier & Don E. Wilson 2018 |
Sylvisorex howelli
| Jenkins 1984 |