Suncus dayi
Creators: name: Mittermeier, Russell A.
name: Wilson, Don E.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2018
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Mammalia
Soricomorpha
Soricidae
Suncus
Suncus dayi

description: 194. Day’s Shrew <i>Suncus dayi</i> <b>French:</b> Pachyure de Day / <b>German:</b> Day-Wimperspitzmaus / <b>Spanish:</b> Musarana de Day <b>Taxonomy.</b> Crocidura dayi Dobson, 1888, “ Madras Presidency, [southern] India.” Electrophoretic studies by M. Ruedi and colleagues in 1996 and P. D. Jenkins and colleagues in 1998 found that S. day, which is sympatric with S. niger and S. murinus in the Nilgiri Hills, is distinct from both species and that morphological similarities to the African Sylvisorex were likely to be an example of convergent evolution. An analysis of the 16s rRNA gene by S. Quérouil and colleagues in 2001 showed S. dayas sister to African S. megalurus, which up to that point had been regarded as a species of Sylvisorex. In their phylogeny based on mitochondrial and nuclear genes, S. Dubey and colleagues in 2007 and 2008 confirmed earlier findings that S. day: forms a clade separate from S. niger (samples from Indian specimens under the name of S. montanus) and S. murinus. Furthermore, Dubey and colleagues in 2008 concluded that the S. murinus + S. [niger] + S. stoliczkanus + S. dayi clade was distinct from S. etruscus and all were distinct from a clade of African species of Suncus and Sylvisorex. In an analysis of mitochondrial genes by S. Meegaskumbura and C. J. Schneider in 2008, S. day: was distinct from a clade of S. murinus + S. montanus + S. niger + S. stoliczkanus. Monotypic. <b>Distribution.</b> Highlands of S India; in Tamil Nadu it has been recorded from several localities in the Nilgiri Hills and there is an historical record from the Palni (= Palani) Hills; in Kerala it is recorded from the historical type locality of Thrissur and also the Erivakulam National Park. <b>Descriptive notes.</b> Head—body 70-78 mm, tail 60-88 mm, ear 11-12 mm, hindfoot 16-17 mm; weight 8-10 g. Pelage of Day’s Shrew is dark brown, being slightly paler ventrally, and bases of hair are gray. Tail is 81-121% of head-body length, with short hair and few long bristle hairs at base. <b>Habitat.</b> Tropical montane evergreen forest and grassland at elevations of 1500-2500 m. <b>Food and Feeding.</b> No information. <b>Breeding.</b> No information. <b>Activity patterns.</b> Day’s Shrews are said to be nocturnal and active at dusk but might be intermittently active during the day. <b>Movements, Home range and Social organization.</b> No information. <b>Status and Conservation.</b> Classified as Endangered on The IUCN Red List. Day’s Shrew has an area of occupancy ofless than 500 km?, it is currently known from few locations, and there is continued decline in extent and quality ofits habitat. Hill forest habitats of Palani Hills and Nilgiri Hills are isolated from each other by lowlands of secondary forests, with anthropogenic activity, cleared cultivated land, and scrublands. <b>Bibliography.</b> Corbet &amp; Hill (1992), Dobson (1888), Dubey, Salamin, Ohdachi et al. (2007), Dubey, Salamin, Ruedi et al. (2008), Hutterer (2005b), Jenkins et al. (1998), Meegaskumbura &amp; Schneider (2008), Molur (2016b), Molur et al. (2005), Pradhan (2009), Quérouil et al. (2001), Ruedi et al. (1996), Shankar (2003).
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 463, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6870843