Crocidura yaldeni Lavrenchenko, Voyta &amp; Hutterer 2016
Creators: name: Mittermeier, Russell A.
name: Wilson, Don E.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2018
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Mammalia
Soricomorpha
Soricidae
Crocidura
Crocidura yaldeni

description: 321. Yalden’s White-toothed Shrew <i>Crocidura yaldeni</i> <b>French:</b> Crocidure de Yalden / <b>German:</b> Yalden-Weif3zahnspitzmaus / <b>Spanish:</b> Musarana de Yalden <b>Other common names:</b> Yalden's Shrew <b>Taxonomy.</b> Crocidura yaldeni Lavrenchenko, Voyta &amp; Hutterer, 2016, “ Beletta Forest, south-western Ethiopia, 07°34'N, 036°31’E, 1900 m a.s.l.” This species has the same karyotype as most of the other Ethiopian montane endemics, indicating that they may have originated from a widespread species which had populations that became separate in montane parts of the region and diversified into the current array of species. The karyoptype also indicates that African Crocidura may have come from a Palearctic branch of the genus, based on its similarity to the proposed ancestral karyotype of Crocidura. The Ethiopian endemic clade that has been sequenced (C. afeworkbekelei, C. yaldeni, C. glassi, C. baileyi, C. macmillani, C. lucina, and C. thalia) has been shown to be monophyletic, based on cytochrome-b genes, indicating that they all originated from a recent adaptive radiation. But further sampling of more species throughout Africa is needed to achieve a fuller understanding ofthe relationships of the Ethiopian endemics. Monotypic. <b>Distribution.</b> Known only from the Beletta Forest in SW Ethiopia, although it may have a more extensive distribution. <b>Descriptive notes.</b> Head-body 84-99-5 mm, tail 60-73 mm, ear 10-11 mm, hindfoot (with claws) 18-5-22-2 mm. No specific data are available for body weight. Yalden’s White-toothed Shrew is a large white-toothed shrew with a moderately long tail (62-2— 77-6% of head-body length). Dorsal pelage gray-brown with pale ocher shades, hairs gray at base, brown at tip; ventral pelage blackish gray with pale ocher wash, hairs dark gray at base, pale-yellowish at tip. Dorsal surface of feet brownish. Tail uniformly colored, dark gray-brown above and brown below; bristle hairs are long, dark gray at base, pale gray at tip, and present along the full length of the tail. Skull has a long rostrum and wide braincase; rostral part is distinctly inflated; nasal aperture is wide, and posterior margin of the aperture has no medial tip. There are three unicuspids. Chromosomal complement is 2n = 36, FNa = 52. <b>Habitat.</b> All four specimens were captured in the riverine variant of humid Afromontane forest on the bank of a small river at an elevation of ¢.1900 m. <b>Food and Feeding.</b> No information. <b>Breeding.</b> No information. <b>Activity patterns.</b> No information. <b>Movements, Home range and Social organization.</b> No information. <b>Status and Conservation.</b> Not assessed on The IUCN Red List. This recently described species is known from only a few specimens collected in 1997; virtually nothing is known of it. Yalden’s White-toothed Shrew currently has a very small distribution. Surveys and research are needed to permit a proper evaluation of this species’ current status. <b>Bibliography.</b> Lavrenchenko et al. (2016).
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 509-510, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6870843