Crocidura whitakeri, de Winton, 1898
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publication ID |
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6870843 |
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DOI |
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6870243 |
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persistent identifier |
https://treatment.plazi.org/id/3D474A54-A041-872D-FFF5-A2F917E9FCBE |
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treatment provided by |
Felipe |
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scientific name |
Crocidura whitakeri |
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Whitaker's White-toothed Shrew
Crocidura whitakeri View in CoL
French: Crocidure de Whitaker / German: Whitaker \WeiRzahnspitzmaus / Spanish: Musarana de Whitaker
Other common names: Lesser Maghrebi Shrew, Whitaker's Shrew
Taxonomy. Crocidura (Crocidura) whitakeri de Winton, 1898 View in CoL , “ Sierzet , about halfway between Morocco city [= Marrakech] and Mogador [= Essaouira],” Morocco.
This species is monotypic.
Distribution. Mediterranean NW Africa from NW Western Sahara E to Tunisia, along with some isolated records from N Egypt around the Nile Delta. It might be widely and continuously distributed from Morocco to Egypt, and there are possible records from Libya that are labeled as Greater White-toothed Shrew (C. russula ). View Figure
Descriptive notes. Head-body 56-64 mm, tail 28-39 mm, ear 8-11 mm, hindfoot 11-13 mm; weight 5-7 g. Whitaker's White-toothed Shrew is small, with short and silky pelage. Dorsal pelage is buffy brown, flecked with white (speckled in holotype); hairs are ash-gray at bases with subterminal bands of white and brownish tips. Ventral pelage is whitish; hairs are gray on basal one-half and white on terminal one-half. Feet are pale or white on upper and lower surfaces. Tail is ¢.50% of head-body length, pale above, whitish below, and covered with bristle hairs. Skull is relatively flat, with long rostrum. Third unicuspid is smaller than second but about the samesize as well-developed parastyle on upper premolar. There are three unicuspids.
Habitat. Apparently dependent on dry and stony habitats with sparse vegetation (i.e. steppe or sub-deserts) but also sandy coastal dunes from sea level up to elevations of c.1800 m.
Food and Feeding. No information.
Breeding. No information.
Activity patterns. Whitaker's White-toothed Shrews are terrestrial and mainly nocturnal.
Movements, Home range and Social organization. Whitaker's White-toothed Shrew shelters among rocks and in rodent burrows.
Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. Although relatively common, Whitaker’s White-toothed Shrew might be adversely affected by pesticides used to kill locusts in regions where it is found.
Bibliography. Aulagnier (2013b), Aulagnier & Thévenot (1986), Cassola (2016af), Hutterer (1986e), Vogel et al. (2000).
No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.
