Crocidura lanosa Heim de Balsac 1968
Creators: name: Mittermeier, Russell A.
name: Wilson, Don E.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2018
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Mammalia
Soricomorpha
Soricidae
Crocidura
Crocidura lanosa

description: 407. Kivu Long-haired White-toothed Shrew <i>Crocidura lanosa</i> <b>French:</b> Crocidure laineuse / <b>German:</b> Langfell-Weil3zahnspitzmaus / <b>Spanish:</b> Musarana de Kivu <b>Other common names:</b> Kivu Long-haired Shrew, Lemara Shrew <b>Taxonomy.</b> Crocidura lanosa Heim de Balsac, 1968, Lemera, Kivu, DR Congo. Crocidura lanosa is in the C. monax-C. lt- toralisC. maurisca group Albertine Rift Valley endemics (C. kiwvuana, C. steno- cephala and C. lanosa). In a phylogenetic tree estimated from Bayesian analysis of cytochrome-b sequences by W. T. Stanley and colleagues in 2015, C. lanosa was sister to C. maurisca, and both clustered to a group consisting of C. latona, C. lttoralis, and C. onitis/ C. stenocephala. Monotypic. <b>Distribution.</b> Restricted to montane region of EC DR Congo (Kivu, Lemera, Irangi, Kahuzi-Biéga National Park, and Tshibati) and Rwanda (Uinka and Nyungwe Forest). <b>Descriptive notes.</b> Head-body 87-105 mm, tail 69-85 mm, ear 6-10 mm, hindfoot 16-22 mm; weight 18-34 g. Condylo-incisive lengths are 24-2—-26 mm. The Kivu Longhaired White-toothed Shrew is immediately recognized by its large size, long and woolly pelage (unusually dense for a species of Crocidura), soft and grayish black coat, and untypically scantily haired tail, more like a species of Scutisorex. Previously, it was believed that these were young animals of Scutisorex. Dense and woolly pelage of the Kivu Long-haired White-toothed Shrew is possibly an adaption to cold temperatures and wet conditions in mountains. Dorsal pelage is almost unicolored blackish gray, with superficial brown tinge. Hairs have white tips. Ventral pelage is blackish gray but slightly paler, possibly with brown tinge. Forefeet and hindfeet are brown. Hindfeet are relatively long. Ears are medium-sized and partly covered by pelage. Tail is ¢.80% of head-body length, dark, and covered with dark short bristles, except at its terminal end (pilosity ¢.33%). Some individuals have whitish hairs at tip oftail, forming small pencil. Skull is elongated, with broad maxillary and cranial region. Cutting edge of lower incisor is normally smooth, rarely with a denticle. Females have six nipples. <b>Habitat.</b> Primary montane forests, Cyperus (Cyperaceae) swamps, and bamboo forests (partly mixed with gallery forests) near Lake Kivu at elevations of 1850-2450 m. The Kivu Long-haired White-toothed Shrew has also been found in secondary montane forests and disturbed areas across a wide elevational gradient in Kahuzi-Biéga National Park. <b>Food and Feeding.</b> No information. <b>Breeding.</b> Reproductively active and pregnant Kivu Long-haired White-toothed Shrews were found during wet season (October, November, January) but not at other time of year. Embryo counts are 2-6/female. Sex ratio is 23 males: 10 females in the Kivu area. <b>Activity patterns.</b> No information. <b>Movements, Home range and Social organization.</b> The Kivu Long-haired Whitetoothed Shrew comprised 15% of shrews (33 of 222; ten species) caught in all montane habitats (1880-3300 m) west of Lake Kivu and 23% of shrews in habitats where it was present. In Kahuzi-Biéga National Park and surrounding areas, some species of shrews, such as the Kivu Long-haired White-toothed Shrew and the African Giant White-toothed Shrew (C. olivieri), were collected in open habitats, but most shrews were found in swamps or wet habitats and could occur in deep forest (primary or secondary forest). <b>Status and Conservation.</b> Classified as Vulnerable on The IUCN Red List. The Kivu Long-haired White-toothed Shrew is known from fewer than ten locations, and there is continuing decline in extent and quality of its habitat. It might be threatened by habitat loss at Tshibati and Lemara due to development of tea plantations. It is well protected in Kahuzi-Biéga National Park, which has not experiences any known habitat loss. Additional studies are needed to clarify its distribution and better understand its natural history. <b>Bibliography.</b> Dieterlen (2013b), Dieterlen &amp; Heim de Balsac (1979), Geider &amp; Kock (1991), Heim de Balsac (1968a), Heim de Balsac &amp; Meester (1977), Hutterer (1982, 2005b), Hutterer, Van der Straeten &amp; Verheyen (1987), Kaleme et al. (2007), Kennerley (2016r), Nicoll &amp; Rathbun (1990), Stanley et al. (2015).
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 537, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6870843