Sorex coronatus Millet 1828
Creators: name: Mittermeier, Russell A.
name: Wilson, Don E.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2018
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Mammalia
Soricomorpha
Soricidae
Sorex
Sorex coronatus

description: 19. Crowned Shrew <i>Sorex coronatus</i> <b>French:</b> Musaraigne couronnée / <b>German:</b> Schabrackenspitzmaus / <b>Spanish:</b> Musarana de Millet <b>Other common names:</b> Millet's Shrew <b>Taxonomy.</b> Sorex coronatus Millet, 1828, Blou, Maine-et-Loire, France. Evidence from mtDNA and nDNA sequences classifies S. coronatus in the araneus group. Monotypic. <b>Distribution.</b> N Spain, France, Switzerland, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Germany, and Jersey I. <b>Descriptive notes.</b> Head-body 68-80 mm (immatures 68-74 mm), tail 37-46 mm; weight 6-5-11-8 g (immatures 6-5-7 g). The Crowned Shrew is medium to large in size. Tail is bicolored and only slightly longer than 50% of head-body length. Pelage is bicolored. Back varies from brown in juveniles to dark brown in adults. Mantle is distinct in adults, and dark back contrasts with light gray sides and belly. Contrast is absent in juveniles, and dark color of back gradually merges into light color of belly. In regions of sympatry with the Common Shrew (S. araneus), the Crowned Shrew is smaller and shows greater contrasts in color. Chromosomal complement has 2n = 22/23 and FN = 44. Trivalent of sex chromosomes consists of large metacentric X-chromosome, small acrocentric Y-chromosome, and medium-sized acrocentric Y-chromosome. There are 20 metacentric autosomes. <b>Habitat.</b> Highland coniferous—broad-leaved forests and plain broad-leaved forests. <b>Food and Feeding.</b> High occurrence of gastropods in gastric contents is typical of the diet of the Crowned Shrew. Larval and adult beetles, spiders, and aphids are often eaten. <b>Breeding.</b> Three pregnant Crowned Shrews with four, four, and five embryos were captured in northern Spain in May—August; four pregnant females with four,five,five, and seven embryos were captured in western Germany in March-September. <b>Activity patterns.</b> Total daily activity period of the Crowned Shrew is somewhat longer than in the Common Shrew, shows no seasonal variation, and is evenly distributed between day and night. <b>Movements, Home range and Social organization.</b> Sociability tests showed more social and demonstrative behavioral elements in the Crowned Shrew than in the Common Shrew. Ritualized aggression was more common than direct aggression in intraspecific tests. Field observations showed that male Crowned Shrews stay in home ranges of nursing females, but they do not help to rear young. This behavior is far from true monogamy butstill differs from promiscuity, which is typical of the Common Shrew and several other species of Sorex. <b>Status and Conservation.</b> Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. The Crowned Shrew is common or abundant in all regions of its distribution except the northern periphery. <b>Bibliography.</b> Cantoni (1993), Genoud (1984), Hausser (1978, 1990a), Sheftel et al. (2018).
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 page 401, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6870843