Wimmer's shrew

Wimmer's shrew ( Crocidura wimmeri ) is a rare shrew from the kind of white toothed shrews ( Crocidura ). It comes in the Ivory Coast in West Africa before and it ranks among the ten most endangered vertebrate species. The species name refers to Eugène Wimmer, a former Swiss consul in the Ivory Coast.

Features

Wimmer's shrew is similar in appearance as well as in cranial and Gebißeigenschaften Nimba Shrew ( Crocidura nimbae ), the ( nigeriae Crocidura ) Fox musk shrew ( Crocidura foxi ) and the Nigeria musk shrew, but differs from the foregoing species in details of the skull - and tooth structure. Dimensions are known only from two male type specimens, which were described in 1958 by Henri de Balsac home and Villy Aellen. The two specimens have a head-body length of 80 or 90 mm and a tail length of 57 mm each. The Hinterfußlänge is in two copies per 17 mm. The ear length is not known. The entire length of the upper row of teeth of the first cutting tooth and a third molar of 12 or 11.3 mm. The width of the skull is 9.5 mm at the first instance and 10.0 mm for the second. The skull length is 25 mm and at 24 mm. The karyotype is 2n = 50, FN = 84 The back fur is dark ash-gray to brown, the belly fur is lighter. The relatively long tail is hairless. The skull is elongated, the face area is well developed, and the jaws are wide.

Vocalizations

Wimmer's shrew differs from most other West African shrews by their Abwehrruf, which has an average duration of 217 milliseconds and is repeated at a frequency from 11.7 to 15.0 kHz.

Habitat and behavior

Wimmer's shrew inhabits primary forests, secondary forests and humid swamp forests near the coast. The species is nocturnal. By Peter Vogel mid-1970s study of held in captivity specimens, it was found that the animals 340 minutes spread over 22 periods per day were active. Accounted for 6 to 45 minutes on the night, but only 0-4 min to the daytime hours. The energy consumption in a specimen with a weight of 23.5 g was 1.9 kilojoules per gram and hour.

Status

Wimmer's Shrew is " critically endangered " by the IUCN in the categories ( critically endangered ) listed. She was originally known only from Adiopodoumé in the south of Ivory Coast, where she was last seen in 1976. Then the extinction of this species was presumed to early 2008, four copies in the Banco National Park were rediscovered. In the terra typica habitat degradation contributed by logging to the disappearance of Wimmer's shrew.