Crocidura arabica, Hutterer & D. L. Harrison, 1988

Russell A. Mittermeier & Don E. Wilson, 2018, Soricidae, Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 8 Insectivores, Sloths and Colugos, Barcelona: Lynx Edicions, pp. 332-551 : 502-503

publication ID

https://doi.org/ 10.5281/zenodo.6870843

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6870253

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/3D474A54-A042-872F-FA27-A2F013CEFB0A

treatment provided by

Felipe (2022-07-20 16:46:36, last updated 2024-11-29 14:43:11)

scientific name

Crocidura arabica
status

 

303. View Plate 21: Soricidae

Arabian White-toothed Shrew

Crocidura arabica View in CoL

French: Crocidure dArabie / German: Arabien-WeiRzahnspitzmaus / Spanish: Musarana de Arabia

Other common names: Arabian Shrew

Taxonomy. Crocidura arabica Hutterer & D. L. Harrison, 1988 View in CoL ,

Khadrafi (16° 42’ N, 53° 09’ E), Dhofar, Oman. GoogleMaps

Specimens of arabica were classified as russula by J. W. Yerbury and O. Thomas in 1895 or suaveolens by D. L. Harrison in 1980 and P. J. J. Bates and Harrison in 1984. R. Hutterer and Harrison in 1988 raised arabica to species rank supported by morphological characteristics. Crocidura arabica possesses several anatomical paral-

lels (e.g. ears, M? and interorbital region) to some species of African savanna shrews. This suggests that the origin of arabica is probably in Africa and that its first ancestors came over an existing land bridge across the Red Sea to the Arabian Peninsula in the Pliocene. In this case, it is closely related to the species floweri and crossei . Monotypic.

Distribution. Aden (Yemen) and Dhofar and Musandam regions (Oman), S Arabian Peninsula. View Figure

Descriptive notes. Head-body 51-54 mm, tail 36-41 mm, ear 7-3-7-8 mm, hindfoot 9-7-10-1 mm; weight c.5-9 g. Condylo-incisive lengths are 17-7-17-8 mm. The Arabian White-toothed Shrew is small, with petite hindfeet. Dorsal pelage is w-gray, with brownish tinge; its 3mm hair is soft and dense. Shade of gray is lighter on venter. There is

an indistinct dividing line between dorsum and venter. Dorsal surfaces of hands and feet are slightly paler than back. Consistently grayish brown tail is long compared with the Lesser White-toothed Shrew ( C. suaveolens ). Like some species of African savanna shrews, ears of the Arabian White-toothed Shrew are large and stick out from head. Skull is slender and similar to, smaller, and more dorsoventrally flattened than in the Lesser White-toothed Shrew. Rostrum, interorbital region, and palate of the Arabian White-toothed Shrew are slender, although not as elongated and narrow, relative to their size, as in the larger Dhofar White-toothed Shrew (C. dhofarensis ). First upper unicuspid is twice as large as second and third unicuspids. M* is reduced to thin cone.

Habitat. Coastal slopes and plains covered with grass or mix of trees and long grass. Habitats of the Arabian White-toothed Shrew are characterized by high numbers of endemic plants.

Food and Feeding. The Arabian White-toothed Shrew probably eats invertebrates and seeds, but additional studies are needed.

Breeding. No information.

Activity patterns. Cranial parts and mandibles in owl pellets suggest that the Arabian White-toothed Shrew is nocturnal or crepuscular.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. There are no signs that populations of Arabian White-toothed Shrews are declining. Urban expansion and increasingly intensive cattle grazing might affect some populations. It is considered data deficient in a preliminary red list ofterrestrial mammals of Oman.

Bibliography. Bates & Harrison (1984), Fisher (1999), Galletti et al. (2016), Harrison (1980), Harrison & Bates (1991), Hutterer (2005b, 2008b), Hutterer & Harrison (1988), Serhal & Alkhuzai (2015), Silva & Downing (1995), Yerbury & Thomas (1895).

Gallery Image

266. Phu Quoc White-toothed Shrew (Crocidura phuquocensis), 267. Taiwanese Gray White-toothed Shrew (Crocidura lanakae), 268. Phan Luong White-toothed Shrew (Crocidura phanluong), 269. Sokolov White-toothed Shrew (Crocidura sokolouvi), 270. Cranbrook’s White-toothed Shrew (Crocidura cranbrooki), 271. Hill's White-toothed Shrew (Crocidura hilliana), 272. Voracious White-toothed Shrew (Crocidura vorax), 273. Sa Pa White-toothed Shrew (Crocidura sapaensis), 274. Annamite White-toothed Shrew (Crocidura annamitensis), 275. Vietnamese White-toothed Shrew (Crocidura guy), 276. Ke Go White-toothed Shrew (Crocidura kegoensis), 277. Andaman Spiny White-toothed Shrew (Crocidura hispida), 278. Andaman White-toothed Shrew (Crocidura andamanensis), 279. Jenkins’s White-toothed Shrew (Crocidura jenkinsi), 280. Nicobar White-toothed Shrew (Crocidura nicobarica), 281. Christmas Island White-toothed Shrew (Crocidura trichura), 282. Siberian White-toothed Shrew (Crocidura sibirica), 283. Shantung White-toothed Shrew (Crocidura shantungensts), 284. Guldenstadt’s White-toothed Shrew (Crocidura gueldenstaedtii), 285. Lesser White-toothed Shrew (Crocidura suaveolens), 286. Cyrenaica White-toothed Shrew (Crocidura aleksandrisi), 287. Zarudny’s White-toothed Shrew (Crocidura zarudnyi), 288. Greater Ryukyu White-toothed Shrew (Crocidura orii), 289. Batak White-toothed Shrew (Crocidura batakorum), 290. Mossy Forest White-toothed Shrew (Crocidura musseri), 291. Temboan White-toothed Shrew (Crocidura rhoditis), 292. Lesser Black-footed White-toothed Shrew (Crocidura lea), 293. Sulawesi Tiny White-toothed Shrew (Crocidura levicula), 294. Elongated White-toothed Shrew (Crocidura elongata), 295. North African White-toothed Shrew (Crocidura pachyura), 296. Greater White-toothed Shrew (Crocidura russula), 297. Serezkaya White-toothed Shrew (Crocidura serezkyensis), 298. Whitaker's White-toothed Shrew (Crocidura whitakeri), 299. Flower’s White-toothed Shrew (Crocidura floweri), 300. Egyptian Pygmy White-toothed Shrew (Crocidura religiosa), 301. Bicolored White-toothed Shrew (Crocidura leucodon), 302. Saharan White-toothed Shrew (Crocidura tarfayensis), 303. Arabian White-toothed Shrew (Crocidura arabica), 304. Dhofar White-toothed Shrew (Crocidura dhofarensis)

Gallery Image

Distribution. Aden (Yemen) and Dhofar and Musandam regions (Oman), S Arabian Peninsula.

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Mammalia

Order

Soricomorpha

Family

Soricidae

Genus

Crocidura