Tien Shan shrew
Sorex asper 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 5.5 to 7.7 centimeters and a weight of about 5 to 12 grams of Sorex asper is one of the medium-sized shrew species. The tail reaches a length of 32-47 millimeters - making it shorter than the rest of the body - the hind foot 10 to 14 millimeters.
The skull has a total length of 19-20 mm and a width of 9.1 to 9.5 millimeters with a long 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 second single pointed teeth of the upper jaw is significantly larger than the first and third, the fourth turn is very much smaller than the third. The tooth tips point slightly behind the tips of the teeth of the single-pointed teeth form a convex ( outwardly curved ) line. From the very similar S. excelsus, S. araneus and S. tundrensis to S. asper is different to each other by the relative sizes of the single-pointed teeth.
The genome of Sorex asper consists of a diploid chromosome complement of 2n = 32/33 (FN = 58).
Dissemination
Sorex asper 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. The height distribution is probably at 2000 to 3000 meters.
Way of life
Over the life of this kind are of the genus is little data as in many species. Sorex asper is probably a high mountain specialist like Sorex Sorex cansulus or excelsus. She lives in coniferous forests, moist meadows and thickets of high mountains over 2000 meters high, while it prefers habitats with a thick sheets edition, which freezes quickly. It is active throughout the year, being active during the day, especially at dusk and at night, and rare.
Like all shrews also feed on these types of invertebrates, especially insects. The breeding season begins in late March or early April. The testes of males swell in this period of normally one to two millimeters to a size of up to six millimeters and remain active until the end of July. The females give birth to one to eight pups, an average of 5.3, to the world. From July to leave this building the parents.
System
Sorex asper is classified as a separate species within the genus of Rotzahnspitzmäuse ( Sorex ), which consists of about 80 species. The first scientific description comes from Thomas in 1916, who described an individual from the region Tekes, Xinjiang Province, Tian Shan. The species was partially S. araneus assigned as a subspecies. Within the genus, the species is classified in the subgenus Sorex and attributed to S. tundrensis group, although they are not genetically closely related to each other.
Within the type no further sub- types in addition to the nominate Sorex asper asper be distinguished.
Threat and protection
Sorex asper is classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN ) due to the relatively large area of distribution and the non-existent threat inventory as not at risk ( least concern ).