Tibetan shrew
Sorex thibetanus is a shrew of the genus Rotzahnspitzmäuse ( Sorex ). It comes in the Tian Shan in the People's Republic of China in the eastern province of Xinjiang and in the west of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan to the north before.
Features
With a head-body length of 5.1 to 6.4 centimeters Sorex thibetanus is one of the medium to small shrew species. The tail reaches a length between 32 and 54 millimeters - making it only slightly shorter than the rest of the body - the hind foot 12 to 13 millimeters.
The skull has a total length of 16 to 18 millimeters. 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 second single pointed teeth of the upper jaw is smaller than the first and the third, both of which are approximately equal. Compared to S. minutus, the species is slightly larger and differs in the ratio of the crown to the base of the single-pointed teeth of the upper jaw from her.
Dissemination
Sorex thibetanus is probably endemic in the People's Republic of China and is found in the provinces of Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu and Xizang. The height distribution is probably at 2000 to 3000 meters.
Way of life
Over the life of this kind are, as in many species of the genus, only few data, they probably similar to other shrews its size. The habitat consists of different habitats between warm temperate mountain forests and high mountains.
System
Sorex thibetanus is classified as a separate species within the genus of Rotzahnspitzmäuse ( Sorex ), which consists of about 80 species. The first scientific description comes from Kastschenko from 1905, which described an individual from the Qaidam Basin, Qinghai Province. The species was partially S. minutus assigned as a subspecies. However, the systematic position of this and other species of the Himalayas today is largely unclear and the type of the Tomsk University was gone as lost. As a result, S. thibetanus was used to merge buchariensis p, p kozlovi, p planiceps and other individuals from Nepal and China. Later, the type in Moscow reappeared and S. thibetanus was written with several subspecies. The subspecies have been recognized in the result due to significant differences and the experience with other dwarf shrews as S. volnuchini, p caecutiens and S. shinto mostly back as a separate species. S. kozlovi is now partially still considered as a subspecies of S. thibetanus.
Within the type no further sub- types in addition to the nominate Sorex thibetanus thibetanus be distinguished.
Threat and protection
From the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources ( IUCN) Sorex thibetanus is not classified due to missing data and is listed as " data deficient " to 1996 she was listed as endangered. There are only a few known safe data to the species and its systematic position is uncertain.