Chinese highland shrew
Sorex excelsus is a shrew of the genus Rotzahnspitzmäuse ( Sorex ). It comes in the highlands in central China in the provinces of Yunnan, Sichuan, Xizang and Qinghai, as well as in neighboring Nepal at altitudes of 4000 meters before.
Features
With a head -body length from 6 to 7.3 centimeters and a weight of about 5 to 10 grams of Sorex excelsus one of the medium-sized shrew species. The cock reaches a length from 44 to 51 millimeters, and is thus shorter than the rest of the body, the rear foot is 13 to 16 millimeters long. The dorsal coloration is brown, the sides are beige - brown and the belly is gray, the abdomen and back side are colored distinctly different. The tail is sharply separated by color between a brown top and a white underside. The feet are white to silver gray.
The skull has a total length of 18 to 20 mm and a width of 8.6 to 9.1 millimeters with a narrow rostrum ( snout ). Like most species of the genus has the kind in the maxilla per half an incisor ( incisor ) and then five unicuspid teeth, a Vorbackenzahn ( premolar ) and three molars ( Molar ). In the mandible, it has, however, a single canine ( canine ) behind the incisor. Overall, the animals thus have a dentition of 32 teeth. The roots of teeth are stained red as with most Rotzahnspitzmäusen. The first two -pointed teeth of the upper jaw are approximately the same and larger than the third and fourth, are also approximately equal. From the very similar S. asper, S. araneus and S. S. excelsus tundrensis be different to each other by the relative sizes of the single-pointed teeth, the size of the teeth correspond approximately to those of S. tundrensis.
Dissemination
Sorex excelsus comes in the highlands in central China in the provinces of Yunnan, Sichuan, Xizang and Qinghai, as well as in neighboring Nepal at altitudes of 4000 meters before. In Nepal, the species has been confirmed only in Khumjung near the Chinese border.
Way of life
Over the life of this kind are of the genus is little data as in many species. Sorex excelsus is known only from the high mountains of mountain forests and is as Sorex Sorex asper cansulus or a high mountain specialist. She lives in forests and is found in the south of Qinghai also along streams with gebüschigen banks and moist soil.
Like all shrews feed on this species of invertebrates, especially insects. About the propagation are no observations.
System
Sorex excelsus is classified as a separate species within the genus of Rotzahnspitzmäuse ( Sorex ), which consists of about 80 species. The first scientific description derived by GM Allen from 1923, which described an individual from the area of Shangri -La in Yunnan Province of almost 4000 meters. The species was partially S. araneus assigned as the subspecies. Within the genus, the species of the subgenus Sorex is classified and S. tundrensis group assigned, although they are not genetically closely related to each other.
Within the species, no further addition to the nominate subspecies Sorex excelsus excelsus be distinguished.
Threat and protection
Sorex excelsus is classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources ( IUCN) despite rare sightings due to the relatively large area of distribution and the assumed large stocks as not at risk ( least concern ). Potential existence-threatening threats are not known.