Crocidura musseri Ruedi 1995
Creators: name: Esselstyn, Jacob A.
name: Achmadi, Anang S.
name: Handika, Heru
name: Swanson, Mark T.
name: Giarla, Thomas C.
name: Rowe, Kevin C.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2021
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Mammalia
Soricomorpha
Soricidae
Crocidura
Crocidura musseri

description: <i>Crocidura musseri</i> Ruedi, 1995 <i>Crocidura musseri</i> Ruedi, 1995: 254. Original description. HOLOTYPE: MZB 16791 (= IZEA 4397), an adult female caught 18 August 1991. Measurements from the holotype are TC (head-andbody length): 66 mm × Q (tail length): 57 mm × PP (hind-foot length): 13.5 mm = Pds (weight): 6.5 g. TYPE LOCALITY: Mt. Rorekatimbo, Central Sulawesi, at 1° 16’ S, 120° 15’ E, 2230 m elevation. GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION: Apparently restricted to high elevation areas (&gt; 1800 m) in the northern portions of the west-central area of endemism east of the Palu-Koro Fault in Central Sulawesi Province (figs. 13, 39; table 3). Ruedi (1995) reported specimens of this species from only the type locality on Mt. Rorekatimbo. We collected specimens that match Ruedi’s description and are mitochondrially identical (based on cytochrome <i>b</i> sequences from Ruedi et al., 1998) from the same mountain, at three nearby sites (1.3093° S, 120.3092 °E, 2020 m; 1.2926° S, 120.3064° E, 2180 m; 1.2884° S, 120.3104° E, 2250 m). Musser collected additional specimens from 1800–2300 m elevation on the neighboring Mt. Nokilalaki (ca. 15 km W of Mt. Rorekatimbo). EMENDED DIAGNOSIS: A medium-sized shrew (tables 2, 14) with a thick, dark brown pelage that is only slightly paler on the venter. Foot, ear, tail, and rhinarium color closely match the pelage. Tail TABLE 14 a The sample mean ± one standard deviation, the observed range in parentheses, and the sample size. length is shorter than head-and-body length. The tail has inconspicuous applied hairs that are visible with the naked eye only on the distal third of tail length and sparse bristle hairs spread from the tail base to at least its midpoint (fig. 36A). The braincase is notably inflated, with great width, giving an overall wedge-shaped appearance when viewed from the dorsal aspect (fig. 37A). The squamosal-parietal suture is often open, leaving a tear-drop-shaped opening anteriorly, directly below the anterior opening of the sinus canal (sensu McDowell, 1958). COMPARISONS: <i>Crocidura musseri</i> is smaller than members of the Elongata Subgroup and all Rhoditis Group members except <i>C. pallida</i>. It is larger than all members of the Small-Bodied Group. Within the Ordinary Group, <i>C. musseri</i> is smaller than <i>C. nigripes</i>, slightly larger than the sympatric <i>C. normalis</i>, and comparable to <i>C. ordinaria</i> and <i>C. solita</i>. Relative to head-and-body length, <i>C. musseri</i> has a shorter tail than all members of the Long-Tailed and Rhoditis groups, <i>C. nigripes</i>, and the sympatric <i>C. solita</i>. The pelage of <i>C. musseri</i> is thicker than that of any other shrew species we recognize from Sulawesi, except <i>C. caudicrassa</i>. Overall, the color of <i>C. musseri</i> is substantially darker than specimens from the Long-Tailed and Rhoditis groups, <i>C. lea</i>, and <i>C. mediocris</i>. Within the Ordinary Group, <i>C. musseri</i> is slightly darker than <i>C. solita</i> and <i>C. normalis</i>. Relative to skull length, skull width at both the braincase and interorbital region is greater than most other spe- cies, including all members of the Ordinary Group (figs. 10, 37). The unusual width of the skull (table 14) gives <i>C. musseri</i> a more wedge-shaped appearance than any other species when viewed from the dorsal aspect (fig. 37A). <i>Crocidura nigripes</i> has a more angular braincase, a more robust dentition, and a much narrower relative interorbital region (IOW /CIL). Relative rostral length (RL/CIL) in <i>C. musseri</i> is less than in <i>C. nigripes</i>, but greater than in <i>C. normalis</i> (fig. 10). <i>Crocidura musseri</i> is distinguished from all sympatric shrews by a combination of its short tail length, thick and dark pelage, and wide, wedge-shaped skull with small teeth (figs. 9, 36, 40). COMMENTS: Our description of <i>Crocidura musseri</i> is based primarily on the series of specimens we collected in 2011 very near the type locality. This series matches the holotype (MZB 16791) and the description of Ruedi (1995). Cytochrome <i>b</i> sequences from our series are identical to one from a paratype (IZEA 4403; Ruedi et al., 1998). None of our phylogenetic analyses supported a close relationship of <i>C. musseri</i> to any other species. Our mitogenome result placed <i>C. musseri</i> as sister to all other members of Sulawesi’s endemic radiation with some support (fig. 5), while our UCE species tree placed it as sister to <i>C. microelongata</i> and <i>C. pallida</i>, but without statistical support (fig. 7). SPECIMENS EXAMINED: Mt. Nokilalaki (AMNH 223495, 225516, 225517, 225521, 225525–225527, 225530, 225531), Mt. Rorekatimbo (FMNH 213249–213251, 213253–213256, 213258–213269, 213442, 213443; MZB 16791).
description: Published as part of <i>Esselstyn, Jacob A., Achmadi, Anang S., Handika, Heru, Swanson, Mark T., Giarla, Thomas C. &amp; Rowe, Kevin C., 2021, Fourteen New, Endemic Species Of Shrew (Genus Crocidura) From Sulawesi Reveal A Spectacular Island Radiation, pp. 1-109 in Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2021 (454)</i> on pages 76-78, DOI: 10.1206/0003-0090.454.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/5788835
description: {"references": ["Ruedi, M. 1995. Taxonomic revision of shrews of the genus Crocidura from the Sunda Shelf and Sulawesi with description of two new species (Mammalia: Soricidae). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 115: 211 - 265.", "Ruedi, M., M. Auberson, and V. Savolainen. 1998. Biogeography of Sulawesian shrews: testing for their origin with a parametric bootstrap on molecular data. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 9: 567 - 571.", "McDowell, S. B., Jr. 1958. The greater Antillean insectivores. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 115 (3): 131 - 214."]}