Sylvisorex Thomas 1904

Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn, 2005, Order Soricomorpha, Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3 rd Edition), Volume 1, Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, pp. 220-311 : 261

Sylvisorex Thomas 1904

Sylvisorex Thomas 1904 , Abstr. Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1904 (10): 12.

Type Species: Crocidura morio Gray 1862

Species and subspecies: 12 species with 4 subspecies:

Species Sylvisorex camerunensis Heim de Balsac 1968

Species Sylvisorex granti Thomas 1907

Subspecies Sylvisorex granti subsp. granti Thomas 1907

Subspecies Sylvisorex granti subsp. mundus Osgood 1910

Species Sylvisorex howelli Jenkins 1984

Subspecies Sylvisorex howelli subsp. howelli Jenkins 1984

Subspecies Sylvisorex howelli subsp. usambarensis Hutterer 1986

Species Sylvisorex isabellae Heim de Balsac 1968

Species Sylvisorex johnstoni (Dobson 1887)

Species Sylvisorex konganensis Ray and Hutterer 1995

Species Sylvisorex lunaris Thomas 1906

Species Sylvisorex morio (Gray 1862)

Species Sylvisorex ollula Thomas 1913

Species Sylvisorex oriundus Hollister 1916

Species Sylvisorex pluvialis Hutterer and Schlitter 1996

Species Sylvisorex vulcanorum Hutterer and Verheyen 1985

Discussion: For placement in Crocidurinae see Repenning (1967:15). The genus was regarded as part of Suncus by Smithers and Tello (1976), but was retained by Ansell (1978). Querouil et al. (2001) studied 16s rRNA sequences of four species and found the genus, as currently understood, polyphyletic. As a consequence, S. megalura is removed from Sylvisorex and included in Suncus . Further taxonomic action will require a careful analysis of all taxa. Heim de Balsac (1968) and Jenkins (1984) figured and discussed most of the species listed below. Maddalena and Ruedi (1994) and Schlitter et al. (1999) described karyotypes of five species.