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

description: 225. Piebald Shrew <i>Diplomesodon pulchellus</i> <b>French:</b> Crocidure tachetée / <b>German:</b> Turkestan-Wistenspitzmaus / <b>Spanish:</b> Musarafia moteada <b>Other common names:</b> Turkestan Desert Shrew <b>Taxonomy.</b> Sorex pulchellus Lichtenstein, 1823, east bank of Ural River, Kazakhstan. Widely used specific epithet pulchellum has been replaced by the original epithet pulchellus because Diplomesodon and the original species name are masculine and in proper combination. The taxon pulchellus was isolated in a separate monotypic genus based onits specific morphological features, but molecular genetic studies by S. Dubey and colleagues in 2008 based on DNA structure has assigned it to Crocidura. Moreover, D. pulchellus was shown to be closer to the C. suaveolens group than this group is to other groups in the genus Crocidura. The conventional view placing pulchellus in its own monotypic genus Diplomesodon is followed here, despite it being assigned to Crocidura in several modern taxonomic and faunal assessments. This decision is based on both genetic and significant morphological characteristics. Monotypic. <b>Distribution.</b> Endemic to deserts in extreme SE European Russia, W &amp; S Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan. <b>Descriptive notes.</b> Head-body 59-74 mm, tail 25-33 mm; weight 6-12 g. The Piebald Shrew is medium-sized and heavily built. Head is very broad, with short rostrum. Tailis usually no longer than 50% of head-body length. Pelageis sharply bicolored. Dorsum is gray or ash-gray, with elongated white spot in central part. Venter,sides, underside of head, sacral region, and tail are white. Two antemolars in upper jaw are distinctive morphological features, while there are 3-5 antemolars in all other shrews. Dental formulais13/2, C0/0,P 1/1, M 3/3 (x2) = 26. Chromosomal complement has 2n = 44 and FN = 54. X-chromosome is large metacentric, and Y-chromosome is small acrocentric. There are four pairs of metacentric and submetacentric autosomes and 17 pairs of acrocentric autosomes. <b>Habitat.</b> Mostly fixed and less often semi-fixed desert sands. The Piebald Shrew is highly specialized for living in deserts. Fixed hillocky sands, slopes of hillocks, and hollows between them are preferred, while ridges and tops of hillocks are avoided. <b>Food and Feeding.</b> Beetles and their larvae prevail in diets of Piebald Shrews; ants are often eaten. Acridoid grasshoppers and dipterans are eaten less frequently. Mammalian flesh, probably from dead animals, is sometimes found in gastric contents. <b>Breeding.</b> Reproduction of the Piebald Shrew occurs throughout the warm season. Pregnant females were detected first in late March and last in early October in the Lake Balkhash region. Young-of-the-year reproduce; pregnant young-of-the-year were first observed in the second half ofJune. Litters have 4-5 young. <b>Activity patterns.</b> The Piebald Shrew is active at night and dusk and almost never appears on the ground surface during the day. It leaves its hole at ¢.20:00 h and returns at ¢.05:00 h, having 5-10 activity periods at night. Activity periods average 25 minutes (maximum 80 minutes). Caravanning is typical, like in most species of Crocidura, young grasp the base ofthe tail or rear of its sibling in front, and the first one similarly holds onto the mother. <b>Movements, Home range and Social organization.</b> Piebald Shrewslive in habitats with irregular food distribution, and they can move 2-3 km each night in search of food. <b>Status and Conservation.</b> Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. The Piebald Shrew is common and sometimes abundant in favorable habitats. <b>Bibliography.</b> Bannikova &amp; Lebedev (2012), Dubey, Salamin et al. (2008), Gureev (1979), Dubrovskiy et al. (2011), Kuznetsov (1972), Stalmakova (1949), Zaitsev et al. (2014).
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 472, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6870843