216.

Kongana Forest Shrew

Sylvisorex konganensis

French: Pachyure de la Kongana / German: Kongana-Waldmoschusspitzmaus / Spanish: Musarana de bosque de Kongana

Other common names: Kongana Shrew

Taxonomy. Sylvisorex konganensis Ray & Hutterer, 1996,

“ unlogged mixed species forest near Kongana Camp (02°47'N, 16°25’E), Dzanga-Sangha Forest Reserve, SW Central African Republican.”

S. konganensis might be closely related to S. ollula based on rRNA sequences. Monotypic.

Distribution. SW Central African Republic, N Republic of the Congo, and SW Gabon.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 64 mm, tail 36 mm, ear 8 mm, hindfoot 11-3 mm; weight 3 g. The Kongana Forest Shrew is small. Dorsum is brownish gray, and venter, limbs, tail, and ears are slightly paler. Ears are small, rounded, and covered with short hairs. Feet are pale, with elongated digits. Tail is ¢.56% of head-body length, pale brownish gray, and covered with short bristle hairs and a few longer bristle hairs on its basal one-half. There are four unicuspids.

Habitat. Apparently limited to patches of mixed and unlogged lowland tropical moist forest.

Food and Feeding. No information.

Breeding. No information.

Activity patterns. No information.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Data Deficient on The IUCN Red List. The Kongana Forest Shrew occurs in Dzanga-Sangha Forest Reserve in south-western Central African Republic and Moukalaba-Doudou National Park in Gabon. It is probably very rare because it occurred in only 1-:3% of 311 small carnivore scats collected in Dzanga-Sangha and represented only 0-8% of 1350 shrews captured in Ngotto Forest, Central African Republic.

Bibliography. Gerrie & Kennerley (2016c), O'Brien (2009), Ray & Hutterer (1996, 2013h).