154.

Arboreal Brown-toothed Shrew

Episoriculus macrurus

French: Musaraigne de Blanford / German: Kleine Braunzahnspitzmaus / Spanish: Musarana de dientes marrones arbérea

Other common names: Long-tailed Mountain Shrew

Taxonomy. Soriculus macrurus Blanford, 1888,

Darjeeling, India.

Episoriculus macrurus was once placed in E. leucops but has now been supported as a valid species by several morphological, genetic, and karyotypic studies. Two subspecies recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution.

E.m.macrurusBlanford,1888—SWChina(STibet[=Xizang]),NNepal,andNEIndia(DarjeelingdistrictinWestBengalandSikkim).

E. m. irene Thomas, 1911 — SW China (SE Tibet, Sichuan, and Yunnan), adjacent NE India, N Myanmar, and NW Vietnam.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 48-73 mm, tail 76-101 mm, hindfoot 13-5-18 mm. No specific data are available for body weight. Condylo-incisive lengths are 16-8—18-5 mm, and tooth rows are 7-1-7-7 mm. The Arboreal Brown-toothed Shrew is small, with tail usually ¢.50% of head-body length. Body and limbs are slender. Dorsum is yellowish gray, and venter is dirty white. Braincase is very dome-shaped. Rostrum is short and shorter than in other species of Episoriculus . Upper unicuspids are quadrangle and wider than longer. First unicuspid is high and obviously higher than talon (posterior cusp) of upper incisor.

Habitat. Various montane habitats including broad-leaved, conifer, bamboo, and rhododendron forests. The Arboreal Brown-toothed Shrew can be sympatric with the Long-tailed Brown-toothed Shrew ( E. leucops) and Hodgson’s Brown-toothed Shrew ( E. caudatus).

Food and Feeding. The Arboreal Brown-toothed Shrew is insectivorous. Captive individuals show great interest in flying insects such as moths.

Breeding. No information.

Activity patterns. The Arboreal Brown-toothed Shrew is a nocturnal species. It is semiarboreal, good at running, and adapted to climbing.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. The Arboreal Brown-toothed Shrew has a broad distribution in southern Himalaya and Hengduan Mountains. Its overall population is probably large.

Bibliography. Abramovet al. (2013), He et al. (2010), Hoffmann (1985), Motokawa & Lin Liangkong (2005).