Crocidura shantungensis G. S. Miller 1901
Creators: name: Mittermeier, Russell A.
name: Wilson, Don E.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2018
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Mammalia
Soricomorpha
Soricidae
Crocidura
Crocidura shantungensis

description: 283. Shantung White-toothed Shrew <i>Crocidura shantungensts</i> <b>French:</b> Crocidure du Shandong / <b>German:</b> Asiatische Gartenspitzmaus / <b>Spanish:</b> Musarana de Asia menor <b>Other common names:</b> Asian Lesser White-toothed Shrew, Shantung Shrew <b>Taxonomy.</b> Crocidura shantungensis G. S. Miller, 1901, “Chimeh, Shantung [= Shan- dong], northern China.” Evidence retrieved from karyotype com- position and mtDNA and nDNA sequences places C. shantungensis to the C. suaveolens group. Well-differentiated but undescribed subspecies possibly inhabits Transbaikalia and Khentii Mountains. Three subspecies recognized. <b>Subspecies and Distribution.</b> C.s.shantungensisG.S.Miller,1901—SERussia(TransbaikaliaandFarEast),N&amp;EMongolia,C&amp;EChina,andKoreanPeninsula. C.s.hoslettiJameson&amp;G.S.Jones,1977—Taiwan. C. s. quelpartis Kuroda, 1934 —Jeju I (South Korea). Also present on Tsushima I (Japan), but subspecies involved not known. <b>Descriptive notes.</b> Head—body 51-74 mm, tail 26-40 mm, hindfoot 10-13 mm; weight 6-2-8-2 ¢ (immatures 3-3-5-7 g). The Shantung White-toothed Shrew is small and lightly built. Tail is usually shorter than 50% of head-body length. Pelageis bicolored. Dorsum is dull grayish brown, and venteris light gray. Chromosomal complement has 2n = 40 and FN = 50, with four pairs of metacentric and submetacentric autosomes and 15 pairs of acrocentric autosomes. X-chromosome is large metacentric, and Ychromosome is small acrocentric. <b>Habitat.</b> Wide variety of habitats. The Shantung White-toothed Shrew is found in floodplain meadows with low-density bushes and abundant grass stands in northern parts of its distribution. In western Khentii, all Shantung White-toothed Shrews were captured on steppe-heath mountain slope with extremely poor vegetation. On Taiwan, they inhabit low-mountain localities and do not go higher than ¢.100 m in elevation. In Kedrovaya Pad Nature Reserve (southern Primorsky Krai), three of five Shantung White-toothed Shrews were found in buildings. In Vladivostok, they were captured in prefabricated high-rise blocks of apartments in the central region. <b>Food and Feeding.</b> Adult lamellicorn beetles and their larvae, dipterans, caterpillars, and myriapods were found in eight stomachs of Shantung White-toothed Shrews and earthworms in two stomachs in Primorsky Krai. <b>Breeding.</b> Number of embryos averages 4-2/female (maximum six embryos in Primorsky Krai). A pregnant Shantung White-toothed Shrew captured in a high-rise block in Vladivostok had seven embryos. On Taiwan, five females had three embryos each. On Tsushima Island, litters have 4-7 young. In Primorsky Krai, females usually have up to three litters during their breeding season, and male young-of-the-year are involved in reproduction far more often than young females. Observations of young in nests showed that hair becomes detectable almost throughout the body three days after birth, eyes open nine days after birth, and young stop nursing after 14 days, having well-formed teeth. Young reach adult weight of 6 g at 20 days old. <b>Activity patterns.</b> Activity of Shantung White-toothed Shrew is multiphasic, around the clock. Activity periods account for only one-third of a day, and 75% of them occur at night. <b>Movements, Home range and Social organization.</b> No information. <b>Status and Conservation.</b> Classified as [Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. The Shantung White-toothed Shrew is common or, in some localities, abundant in north-eastern China and on the Korean Peninsula. In Primorsky Krai, it is common but never dominant. The Shantung White-toothed Shrew is rare and known from single observations in north-western regions of its distribution, including Transbaikalia, Buryatia, and northern Mongolia. It is on regional Red Lists of the Republic of Buryatia and Trans-Baikal Territory. <b>Bibliography.</b> Bannikova et al. (2009), Fang Yinping et al. (1997), Hoffmann &amp; Lunde (2008), Lin Liangkong &amp; Motokawa (2014), Nesterenko (1999), Ohdachi et al. (2009), Okhotina (1984).
description: Published as part of <i>Russell A. Mittermeier &amp; Don E. Wilson, 2018, Soricidae, pp. 332-551 in Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 8 Insectivores, Sloths and Colugos, Barcelona :Lynx Edicions</i> on pages 495-496, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6870843