156.

Long-tailed Brown-toothed Shrew

Episoriculus leucops

French: Musaraigne du Népal / German: Langschwanz-Braunzahnspitzmaus / Spanish: Musarana de dientes marrones de cola larga

Taxonomy. Sorex leucops Horsfield, 1855,

Nepal.

Episoriculus leucops used to include E. bai- ley: as a subspecies, whichis recognized as distinct species. Species boundary of these two taxa still needs to be tested. Population from south-western China was assigned to baileyi previously but is identified as E. leucops based on morphological and molecular evidence. Monotypic.

Distribution. SW China (S Tibet [= Xizang| and W Yunnan) and Nepal; it might occur in SW Sichuan.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 53-76 mm, tail 58-82-5 mm, hindfoot 12-17 mm. No specific data are available for body weight. Condylo-incisive lengths are 19-1-20 mm, and tooth rows are 8-:2-8-6 mm. The Long-tailed Brown-toothed Shrew is the largest species of Episoriculus . Its entire body is covered with uniform dark brown hair. Tail length is similar to head-body length. Braincase is dome-shaped and high. It is very similar to Bailey’s Brown-toothed Shrew ( E. baileyi), with smaller upper incisors and smaller tympanic ring. It has four upper unicuspids. First upper unicuspid is high and obviously higher than talon (posterior cusp) of I'.

Habitat. Broad-leaved evergreen forests, rhododendron forests, and moist conifer forest at elevations of 1800-3500 m.

Food and Feeding. The Long-tailed Brown-toothed Shrew is insectivorous. It was reported to eat earthworms.

Breeding. No information.

Activity patterns. Most Long-tailed Brown-toothed Shrews were trapped at night. Based on its external morphology, it was inferred to be semi-fossorial and semi-arboreal, but this has not been confirmed.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. Distribution of the Long-tailed Brown-toothed Shrew is large, and specimens have been recorded from many conservation areas. Overall population is unlikely to be declining.

Bibliography. Hoffmann (1985), Motokawa & Lin Liangkong (2005).