Long-tailed mountain shrew

Episoriculus macrurus is a shrew of the genus Episoriculus. It is common in South Asia in northern India and Nepal, in central and southern China, as well as in Myanmar.

Features

With a head-body length of 4.7 to 7.3 centimeters, the type is one of the medium-sized shrew species. The tail reaches a length of 7.6 to 10.1 centimeters and the hind 1.4 to 1.8 centimeters. The back and belly coloration is uniformly light gray. The tail is about 1.5 times as long as the head-body length and is compared to all other species of the genus very long.

The skull has a maximum length of 17 to 19 millimeters, which is about as large as the other species of the genus.

Dissemination

Episoriculus macrurus is spread over parts of the high mountains of South Asia, Central China and parts of the north of Southeast Asia. The area ranges in South Asia from northern India from Darjeeling in West Bengal likely to Nepal. In the People's Republic of China is the way in the provinces of Sichuan and Yunnan, also the species lives in the north of Myanmar and Vietnam.

Way of life

The preferred habitat of Episoriculus macrurus is located in the mid to high altitudes, where they settled mostly temperate evergreen broadleaf and low rhododendron forests. The species is adapted as other shrews to an earth way of life, but it can be also found in bushes near waters and the long tail and the body indicate a partially semi- arboreal lifestyle. Some of them comes before sympatric with the slightly smaller Episoriculus caudate.

The diet consists mainly of earthworms and other invertebrates. About the propagation data are very rare, probably get the females in a litter to six pups.

System

Episoriculus macrurus is classified as a separate species within the genus Episoriculus, which consists of four types. The first scientific description is by William Thomas Blanford from 1888.

Within the species, no subspecies are distinguished addition to the nominate form.

Threat and protection

The species is classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN ) due to the relatively large area of ​​distribution in Asia and the population size is assumed to be not at risk ( " least concern "). Threats to the species are not known and a significant decline in populations is not accepted, regionally, they may be at risk, especially in South Asia by habitat changes.