379.

Bittikofer’s White-toothed Shrew

Crocidura buettikoferi

French: Crocidure de Blttikofer / German: BlttikoferWeiltzahnspitzmaus / Spanish: Musarana de Buettikofer

Other common names: Blttikofer's Shrew, Buettikofer's Shrew

Taxonomy. Crocidura biittikoferi Jentink, 1888,

Robertsport, Liberia.

Crocidura buettikoferi is sister to C. theresae and C. grandiceps in a clade including C. cyanea, C. mariquensis, C. silacea, C. hildegardeae, C. batesi, C. foxi, and C. wimmeri, and which is sister to another clade including C. crenata, C. fuscomurina, C. crossei, C. jouvenetae, and C. lusitania . Monotypic.

Distribution. Scattered localities through West Africa in SE Guinea, Liberia, SW Ivory Coast, S Ghana, and S Nigeria.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 72-100 mm, tail 51-62 mm, ear 7-9-5 mm, hindfoot 12-15 mm. No specific data are available for body weight. Biittikofer’s White-toothed Shrew is large. Dorsal pelage is dark chocolate-brown, ventral pelage is paler grayish brown, and limbs are dark. Tail is ¢.70% of the head-body

length, dark, and very sparsely covered with hair and bristle hairs. Skull has slightly domed braincase and is smaller and narrower than in Fraser’s White-toothed Shrew ( C. poensis); I' is medium-sized and hooked; and first unicuspid is larger than second and third. There are three unicuspids.

Habitat. Grasslands, relict forests in derived savanna, secondary forests, cocoa plantations, and cleared land.

Food and Feeding. In the Ivory Coast, Biittikofer’s White-toothed Shrews have been recorded eating spiders (in 46% of stomach samples), ants (46%), adult beetles (36%), termites (32%), millipedes (18%), cockroaches (18%), crickets (14%), fly larvae (11%), and earthworms (11%). Most prey is c.15 mm or less.

Breeding. No information.

Activity patterns. No information.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Near Threatened on The IUCN Red List. Buttikofer’s White-toothed Shrew is known from very few locations, primarily in undisturbed regions. It is considered somewhat common where it occurs, but it is generally considered rare. Habitat loss is its biggest threat, although additional research into its distribution is needed. Biittikofer’s White-toothed Shrews occur in the Adumanya Sacred Grove and Draw River Forest Reserve in Ghana and Mount Nimba Strict Nature Reserve in Ivory Coast.

Bibliography. Decher et al. (1997), Grubb et al. (1998), Hutterer (2008e, 2013g), Hutterer & Happold (1983), Vogel et al. (2013).