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

description: 141. Sichuan Short-tailed Shrew <i>Blarinella quadraticauda</i> <b>French:</b> Musaraigne de Moupin / <b>German:</b> Sichuan-Kurzschwanzspitzmaus / <b>Spanish:</b> Musarafna colicorta de Sichuan <b>Other common names:</b> Asiatic Short-tailed Shrew, Chinese Short-tailed Shrew, Northern Short-tailed Shrew <b>Taxonomy.</b> Sorex quadraticauda Milne-Ed- wards, 1872, “ Moupin [= Baoxing], Thibet oriental,” Sichuan, western China. Blarinella quadraticauda is the type spe- cies of the genus that was established in 1911. Blarinella used to include two subspecies, griselda and wardi, which are now recognized as full species. Taxonomy of the genusis problematic because animals assigned to the genus were found in two highly divergent evolutionary lineages, indicating existence of cryptic species/genus. Relationship between B. quadraticauda and B. griselda is also debated, and it is likely than more than one species is masquerading as B. gniselda. Distributional limits and whether it is sympatrically distributed with B. griselda is unclear; distribution might be limited to the west of the Min River. Monotypic. <b>Distribution.</b> Known from W Sichuan Mts in SW China. <b>Descriptive notes.</b> Head-body 65-81 mm, tail 40-60 mm, hindfoot 13-16 mm. No specific data are available for body weight. Condylo-incisive lengths are 21-21-7 mm, and tooth rows are 8-4-8-9 mm. The Sichuan Short-tailed Shrew is the largest species of Blarinella and has the longesttail. Dorsal and ventral fur are uniform dark brown, without any gray-brown highlight. Tail and dorsal surfaces offeet are dark as or darker than that of dorsal pelage. Claws are large, and forefeet are inconspicuously larger than hindfeet. Skull is robust, and braincase is high. Most teeth are heavily pigmented, which is most obvious on upper incisors. Apex of upper incisor is robust and darkbrown or nearly black. It has five upper unicuspids, second upper unicuspid is subequal to first and is conspicuously larger than third. There are three upper unicuspids visible in lateral view in most specimens. Dental formula for all species of Blarinella is 13/1, C1/1,P3/1,M 3/3 (2) =32. <b>Habitat.</b> Damp broad-leaved and conifer forests at elevations of 1600-3500 m. <b>Food and Feeding.</b> The Sichuan Short-tailed Shrew is insectivorous. <b>Breeding.</b> No information. <b>Activity patterns.</b> The Sichuan Short-tailed Shrew is semi-fossorial and a good digger. Most individuals were captured at night. <b>Movements, Home range and Social organization.</b> No information. <b>Status and Conservation.</b> Classified as Near Threatened on The IUCN Red List. Extent and quality of its forest habitat are probably declining. Major threats include deforestation due to logging, agriculture, and urban development. The Sichuan Short-tailed Shrew is present in many conservation areas, and overall population is probably not rapidly declining. <b>Bibliography.</b> Bannikova etal. (2017), Chen Shunde et al. (2012), Jiang Xuelong et al. (2003), Thomas (1911¢).
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 446, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6870843