Asian lesser white-toothed shrew
Crocidura shantungensis is a shrew from the kind of white tooth shrew ( Crocidura ). It comes in East Asia before from Siberia, Russia, large parts of the People's Republic of China and Korea with Jeju Island. In addition, the species lives on the Japanese islands of Tsushima and Kamishima and Taiwan.
Features
With a head-body length of about 5.1 to 6.5 centimeters Crocidura shantungensis one of the smallest shrews of Eurasia and is about as large as that occurring only on the island of Hainan species Crocidura wuchihensis and Crocidura indochinensis. The tail reaches a length of 35-43 millimeters and is about 70 % of head -body length is comparatively short; he is very broad at the base and tip of the tail is narrow, he also carries numerous sensing bristles. The hind foot has a length of 10 to 13 millimeters. The back fur is dark brownish-gray with a slightly grayer belly, about brighter than C. wuchihensis.
The skull has a total length of 15.5 to 17 millimeters. Like all species of the genus has the kind in the maxilla per half an incisor ( incisor ) and then three unicuspid teeth, one premolar and three molars. In the mandible, it has, however, a single canine ( canine ) behind the incisor. Overall, the animals thus have a set of teeth from 28 teeth. The roots are not pigmented white, as in all tooth shrews in contrast to those of the Rotzahnspitzmäuse.
Dissemination
Crocidura shantungensis comes in East Asia before from Siberia, Russia, large parts of the People's Republic of China and Korea with Jeju Island. In addition, the species lives on the Japanese islands of Tsushima and Kamishima and Taiwan. In China, the species is central to Eastern China detected in almost all provinces, so in Heilongjiang, Liaoning, Jilin, Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, Hebei, Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Beijing, Shandong, Shanxi, Anhui, Zhejiang and Jiangsu.
Way of life
Crocidura shantungensis occurs in many habitats, the habitats of dry semi- desert and steppe areas in the west to coniferous and deciduous forests, sometimes mountain forests, rich in southern and central China. In the southeast, the type also occurs in the intensive agricultural area along the Yangtze River. In Japan, the species lives in rivers and in bushes at the edge of agricultural land and the hills. Like all shrews feed on this species of invertebrates, especially insects. Little is known about the reproduction.
System
Crocidura shantungensis is classified as a separate species within the genus of white tooth shrew ( Crocidura ), which consists of about 170 species. The first scientific description comes from Gerrit Smith Miller in 1901, who described an individual from Shandong Province. This species was temporarily assigned to the species C. suaveolens.
Within the species is today distinguished addition to the nominate Crocidura shantungensis shantungensis partially Crocidura shantungensis quelpartis as a second subspecies. Crocidura shantungensis quelpartis has also been associated Crocidura dsinezumi and Crocidura russula. Hoffmann and Lunde differ, however, in China alone, a total of four subspecies, C. s next shantungensis these are C. s hosletti, C. s orientis and C. s phaeopus.
Threat and protection
Crocidura indochinensis is classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources ( IUCN) due to the large distribution area, the large populations and the non-existent threat to the existence as not at risk ( least concern ).