385.

Nimba White-toothed Shrew

Crocidura nimbae

French: Crocidure du Nimba / German: Nimba-WeiRzahnspitzmaus / Spanish: Musarana de Nimba

Other common names: Nimba Shrew

Taxonomy. Crocidura nimbae Heim de Balsac, 1956,

baraque de Zouguépo, Mount Nimba, Guinea.

Crocidura nimbae is sister to C. mimbasilvanus and in the C. olivieri clade. Monotypic.

Distribution. S Sierra Leone, SE Guinea, N Liberia, and SW Ivory Coast.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 75-90 mm, tail 50-57 mm, hindfoot 16-17 mm; weight 8-19 g. The Nimba White-toothed Shrew is medium-sized, with short dense

pelage that has a silky sheen. Dorsal pelage is dark brownish gray to gray, with sparse flecking; hairs are dark gray basally, becoming browner at tips and occasionally with pale tips. Ventral pelage is slightly paler and grayer; hairs are gray basally, with brownish gray terminal one-half, occasionally with whitetips. Flank gland isvisible as a small oval patch of bare skin. Feet are covered with sparse short brown hairs on dorsal part and whitish hairs on toes. Tail is only ¢.40% of head-body length, hairy, and bicolored, being dark brownish gray above and paler below. I' is long and hooked, and M? is narrow and medium-sized. There are three unicuspids.

Habitat. Submontane and lowland rainforest, perhaps preferring marshy habitats. Nimba White-toothed Shrews have also been recorded in cocoa and coffee plantations at low densities.

Food and Feeding. The Nimba White-toothed Shrew eats various invertebrates, primarily insects. In Tai National Park, stomach samples contained ants (in 53% of stomachs), adult beetles (41%), spiders (29%), millipedes (18%), isopods (17%), cockroaches (12%), true bugs (6%), termites (6%), and mantises (6%).

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. The Nimba White-toothed Shrew has a relatively small distribution that is currently being heavily mined for minerals, and much of its habitat has been largely degraded. Nevertheless, it seems to be relatively hardy and occurs in Tai National Park.

Bibliography. Churchfield et al. (2004), Heim de Balsac (1956a), Heim de Balsac & Meester (1977), Hutterer (2008g, 2013q), Jacquet et al. (2013), Kuhn (1965), Vogel et al. (2013).