Van Sung's shrew

Chodsigoa caovansunga is a shrew of the genus Chodsigoa. It was described in 2003 from northern Vietnam for the first time and is only known from this area.

Features

With a head-body length of 5.8 to 6.4 centimeters Chodsigoa caovansunga one of the small shrew species. The tail reaches a length of 51-88 millimeters, which is about as long as the body, the hind foot is 14 to 16 millimeters long. The dorsal and ventral color is slate gray with dark brown elements, whereby the belly is lighter. The individual hairs are slate gray with dark brown tip. The tail is brown on the upper side and lower side creamy white; he appears naked, but is covered with short, brown hair. The tops of the feet appear through the skin cream white and obtained by the brown hair a light brownish color shock. In comparison to the very similar Chodsigoa parca the animals are smaller and are distinguished by the slightly different coloration of the feet and the absence of a tuft of hair on the tail end.

The skull has a total length of 17.3 to 18.4 millimeters. Like all species of the genus has the kind in the maxilla per half an incisor ( incisor ) and then three 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 set of teeth from 28 teeth. The roots of teeth are stained red as with most Rotzahnspitzmäusen.

Dissemination

Chodsigoa caovansunga was described in 2003 from northern Vietnam for the first time and is only known from this area. The animals were documented at elevations from 1500 to 2000 meters in the area of Mount Tay Con Linh II in the Vietnamese province of Ha Giang, near the Chinese border. In this area also gets in their way Chodsigoa parca. A potentially more widespread in northern Vietnam, and possibly also in the adjacent China is assumed.

Way of life

Over the life of this kind are no data. Like all shrews feeds also likely Chodsigoa caovansunga of invertebrates and lives on the ground. The animals were found in bamboo forests at altitudes of 1500-2000 meters.

System

Chodsigoa caovansunga is classified as a separate species within the genus Chodsigoa consisting of eight kinds. The first scientific description comes from Darrin P. Lunde, Guy G. Musser and Nguyen Truong Son from 2003, which described the type as part of a collection of small mammals at Tay Con Linh II in northern Vietnam based on 12 individuals and compared with the similar species Chodsigoa parva and Chodsigoa parca demarcated.

Chodsigoa caovansunga was named after the mom lodges Cao Van Sung, who works as a specialist in small mammals at the University of Hanoi. Within the species, no further addition to the nominate subspecies Chodsigoa caovansunga caovansunga be distinguished.

Threat and protection

Chodsigoa caovansunga is currently on the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN ) due to the lack of data on the population size and the ecological requirements listed as " data deficient " and not classified in a category of threat. Concrete inventory figures and threats for the species are not known; a potential hazard exists due to the clearing of forests for timber extraction and conversion to agricultural land.