Chimarrogale hantu Harrison 1958
Creators: name: Mittermeier, Russell A.
name: Wilson, Don E.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2018
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Mammalia
Soricomorpha
Soricidae
Chimarrogale
Chimarrogale hantu

description: 173. Malayan Water Shrew <i>Chimarrogale hantu</i> <b>French:</b> Chimarrogale de Malaisie / <b>German:</b> Malayische Wasserspitzmaus / <b>Spanish:</b> Musgano de Malasia <b>Other common names:</b> Asiatic Water Shrew, Hantu \Water Shrew <b>Taxonomy.</b> Chimarrogale hantu J. 1. Harrison, 1958, “ banks of a stream at low altitude (under 1,000 ft. [= 305 m]) in the Ulu Langat Forest Reserve, Selangor, Malaya, about 20 km. east of Kuala Lumpur.” This species is monotypic. <b>Distribution.</b> Endemic to Peninsular Malaysia (Kedah, Perak, Kelantan, Pahang, and Selangorstates). <b>Descriptive notes.</b> Head-body 85-121 mm, tail 86-102 mm, hindfoot 20-22 mm; weight 28-8-36 g. Condylo-incisive Tengths are 25-3-27-2 mm, and tooth rows are 11-7-12-6 mm. Dorsal pelage of the Malayan Water Shrew is uniform dark gray to black, with silvery guard hair that is most conspicuous over hindquarters. Tail is uniformly grayish brown to dark brown, and underpart is covered with brown hair. Feet are brown, and toes are partially webbed. Fringe of whitish hair occurs along margins of forefeet and hindfeet and on toes. Skull is bony, and braincase is low and broad. Development of medial tines of upper incisors is variable. Cusps of teeth are unpigmented. There are three upper unicuspids. <b>Habitat.</b> Wetlands and forest streams at elevations of 300-1676 m. Malayan Water Shrews also use riverbanks for resting, foraging, and nesting. <b>Food and Feeding.</b> Based on stomach contents, the Malayan Water Shrew has a diverse diet of aquatic and terrestrial mollusks, freshwater prawns, millipedes and centipedes, earthworms, mole crickets, fish, frogs, larval caecilian, and possibly crabs. In captivity, it eats snails, cockroaches, and suckling mice. <b>Breeding.</b> Based on data from two individuals, breeding season starts in May or earlier, and numbers of embryos are 2-3/female. <b>Activity patterns.</b> The Malayan Water Shrew is semi-aquatic. It has occasionally been caught in fish traps, so it must be able to dive to depths of c.0-6 m. Captive individuals are active in the morning, afternoon, and evening and are found in nests at dusk; it might be active at night. <b>Movements, Home range and Social organization.</b> Malayan Water Shrews are highly sensitive to disturbance by intruders in their habitat including rats, small carnivores, and snakes. Nests are usually among rocks and boulders above banks of streams and have small entrances. <b>Status and Conservation.</b> Classified as Near Threatened on The IUCN Red List. The Malayan Water Shrew occurs in not much more than 20,000 km?, which is heavily affected by human activities such as agriculture, plantations, and logging. Presumably, extent and quality of its habitat are declining. <b>Bibliography.</b> Harrison (1958), Hoffmann (1987), Lim et al. (2013).
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 454-455, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6870843