Crocidura macarthur, St. Leger, 1934
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publication ID |
https://doi.org/ 10.5281/zenodo.6870843 |
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DOI |
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6870326 |
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persistent identifier |
https://treatment.plazi.org/id/3D474A54-A05D-8731-FFF8-A31014EBFE92 |
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treatment provided by |
Felipe |
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scientific name |
Crocidura macarthur |
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MacArthur’s White-toothed Shrew
Crocidura macarthur View in CoL
French: Crocidure de MacArthur / German: MacArthur-Weil 3zahnspitzmaus / Spanish: Musarana de MacArthur
Other common names: Macarthur’s Shrew
Taxonomy. Crocidura macarthuri St. Leger, 1934 View in CoL ,
Merifano , 32 km from mouth of Tana River, Kenya.
The phylogenetic position of this species is uncertain, although it is morphologically similar to C. fischeri . Monotypic.
Distribution. Known from scattered localities throughout Kenya and C & S Somalia. View Figure
Descriptive notes. Head-body 78-85 mm, tail 35-45 mm, ear 7-10 mm, hindfoot 12-13 mm; weight 11-13 g. MacArthur's White-toothed Shrew is a distinctive medium-sized species very similar to Fischer's White-toothed Shrew (C. fischeri ) but smaller. Dorsal pelage is bluish gray with a brownish tinge; ventral pelage is white, with hairs that are gray on the basal half and white at the terminal half. Upperlips, throat, behind the ears, and feet are also white. The white is sometimes washed with buff or gray in some specimens. Tail is medium-length (56% of head-body length), white, thicker at the base and tapering toward the tip, and nearly naked but with long bristle hairs throughout. There are three unicuspids.
Habitat. Recorded from dry Acacia (Fabaceae) savanna habitats interspersed with Themeda , Hyparrhenia , and Cenchrus grasses, in south Kenya. MacArthur's Whitetoothed Shrew occurs at elevations of ¢.800 m.
Food and Feeding. No information.
Breeding. No information.
Activity patterns. MacArthur's White-toothed Shrew is terrestrial.
Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.
Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. MacArthur’s White-toothed Shrew is considered rare within its broad but seemingly fragmented distribution. The species is found in the Meru National Park in Kenya and may be threatened by habitat destruction due to agricultural expansion.
Bibliography. Aggundey & Schlitter (1986), Heim de Balsac & Meester (1977), Hutterer (1986f), Hutterer & Oguge (2016), Oguge (2013c).
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.
