Nimba shrew

The Nimba shrew ( Crocidura nimbae ) is a shrew from the kind of white tooth shrew ( Crocidura ). The species name refers to the Mont Nimba in southeastern Guinea.

Features

The Nimba Shrew is a medium-sized shrew, which reaches a head-body length of 75 to 90 mm. The tail length is 50 to 57 mm, the Hinterfußlänge 16 to 17 mm. The ear length is not known. The weight is 8 to 19 g The skull length reaches 25.5 to 26.5 mm and the width of the skull 10 mm. The entire length of the upper row of teeth of the first cutting tooth and a third molar of 12 mm. The short, dense coat has a silken sheen. The fur hairs are about 3 mm long. The back fur is dark brownish- gray to gray with scattered speckles. The hair is dark gray at the base and towards the tip brown. Patchy hair have light tips. The peritoneum is slightly lighter and grayer than the coat on his back. On the bottom half of the hair is gray, brownish-gray on the upper half. Sometimes the hair tips are white. The eye-catching ears are not covered by fur. The flank gland is visible as a small oval patch on the hairless skin. The front and hind feet are flesh colored with scattered short brown hair at the top and whitish hairs on the toes. The relatively short tail makes up about 40 percent of the head-body length. He is two-colored, dark brownish- gray at the top, lighter at the bottom, and up to about 70 percent covered with fur. The first incisor is long and hook-shaped. The third molar is small to medium in size. The karyotype and the number of teats are not known.

Distribution area

The distribution area extends from Sierra Leone, the south-eastern Guinea, Liberia to western Ivory Coast.

Habitat

The Nimba Shrew inhabits rain forests in the highlands and in the lowlands. Frequently swampy areas are preferred. Furthermore, the Nimba Shrew was observed in cocoa - coffee plantations, secondary forests, primary forests, in old and young forest plantations as well as in the fields. The species apparently avoids old fallows.

Food behavior

The Nimba shrew is primarily an insect eater. Occasionally enrich other invertebrates, the food supply. Through a study published in 2004, which was conducted in the Taï National Park in Côte d'Ivoire, the researchers identified nine groups of invertebrates belonging to the diet of the Nimba Shrew: Ants (53 percent), adult beetles (41 percent), spiders ( 29 percent ), millipedes (18 percent), isopods (17 percent), cockroaches (12 percent) as well as bugs, termites and mantids ( each with 6 percent).