Crocidura brevicauda, new species

LSID: urn:lsid:zoobank. org:act: 62AA5599-D510-4AAB-B516- 1D901C972A6E

HOLOTYPE: MZB 43009 (= MVZ 237632), an adult female collected on 12 August 2016 by H. Handika, and prepared as a cleaned skull, forma-

lin-fixed carcass, and tissue samples. External measurements of the holotype are 130 mm × 56 mm × 15 mm × 9 mm = 12.0 g. The voucher specimen and a tissue sample will be permanently curated at MZB and an additional tissue will be retained at MVZ.

TYPE LOCALITY: Indonesia, South Sulawesi Province, Luwu Regency, Latimojong District, Ulusalu, Gamaru Village, Mt. Latimojong; 3.43103° S, 120.09457° E, 2518 m elevation.

ETYMOLOGY: Brevicauda is Latin for “short tail,” indicating the relatively stubby tail that this species possesses.

GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION: Only known from Mt. Latimojong of the west-central area of endemism (fig. 1), between 2300 and 2500 m elevation (fig. 13). The surveys we conducted on Mt. Latimojong during 2011 between 2000 and 2300 m did not find this species (table 3).

DIAGNOSIS: Crocidura brevicauda is a fairly large shrew (tables 2, 12) with a stocky build (fig. 17) and relatively short tail (fig. 9). The tail is somewhat thick and dark brown with many applied hairs. It has sparse, but long bristles along nearly its entire length (fig. 33A). The long dorsal fur (7–8 mm at middorsum) is gray-brown to dark brown, with a gray base and short brown tip. The fur coat is sufficiently thick and long that it somewhat obscures the ears. The hind feet are darker than the forefeet, the former being brown to dark brown dorsally, while the latter are pale brown. On all four feet, the thenar and hypothenar are less prominent than the four interdigital pads (fig. 33A). The skull width relative to length is midsized at the braincase and interorbital region (figs. 10, 34A). The rostrum is long relative to skull length (fig. 10). The lambdoidal ridge is prominent and the lateral margins of the braincase are somewhat angular, forming a dull point at the squamosal-parietal suture (fig. 34A).

COMPARISONS: Crocidura brevicauda is considerably larger than all members of the Small-Bodied Group, larger than C. australis and C. pallida of the Rhoditis Group, has a much shorter tail than members of the Long-Tailed Group, is slightly smaller and has a narrower braincase than C. rhoditis and C. pseudorhoditis of the Rhoditis Group, is darker in color (pelage and feet) than all members of the Rhoditis Group, and is larger than all members of the Ordinary Group (detailed below) except C. nigripes . Crocidura nigripes, however, is usually very darkly colored, particularly on its feet, whereas C. brevicauda has pale brown to dark brown feet (fig. 33). Crocidura brevicauda also has a somewhat stockier body (fig. 17), much wider interorbital region (fig. 10), more rounded braincase, and a less robust dentition (fig. 34A) than C. nigripes . Crocidura brevicauda has a more luxuriant pelage than all other species except C. musseri and C. caudicrassa, the other member of the Thick-Tailed Group. Crocidura caudicrassa is generally similar to C. brevicauda, but can be distinguished by its even thicker fur, heavier body (fig. 17), longer skull, wider rostrum and braincase, and thicker tail (table 12).

COMMENTS: The extent of montane habitats on Mt. Latimojong is fairly limited and isolated from other such areas (fig. 1). As such, the geographic range of Crocidura brevicauda may be quite small. See the next account for details of phylogenetic relationships and coalescent species delimitation results.

SPECIMENS EXAMINED: Mt. Latimojong (MVZ 237568, 237597, 237616, 237629–237631, 237633; MZB 43009).