Crocidura arabica Hutterer &amp; D. L. Harrison 1988
Creators: name: Mittermeier, Russell A.
name: Wilson, Don E.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2018
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Mammalia
Soricomorpha
Soricidae
Crocidura
Crocidura arabica

description: 303. Arabian White-toothed Shrew <i>Crocidura arabica</i> <b>French:</b> Crocidure dArabie / <b>German:</b> Arabien-WeiRzahnspitzmaus / <b>Spanish:</b> Musarana de Arabia <b>Other common names:</b> Arabian Shrew <b>Taxonomy.</b> Crocidura arabica Hutterer &amp; D. L. Harrison, 1988, Khadrafi (16° 42’ N, 53° 09’ E), Dhofar, Oman. Specimens of arabica were classified as russula by J. W. Yerbury and O. Thomas in 1895 or suaveolens by D. L. Harrison in 1980 and P. J. J. Bates and Harrison in 1984. R. Hutterer and Harrison in 1988 raised arabica to species rank supported by morphological characteristics. Crocidura arabica possesses several anatomical paral- lels (e.g. ears, M? and interorbital region) to some species of African savanna shrews. This suggests that the origin of arabica is probably in Africa and that its first ancestors came over an existing land bridge across the Red Sea to the Arabian Peninsula in the Pliocene. In this case, it is closely related to the species floweri and crossei. Monotypic. <b>Distribution.</b> Aden (Yemen) and Dhofar and Musandam regions (Oman), S Arabian Peninsula. <b>Descriptive notes.</b> Head-body 51-54 mm, tail 36-41 mm, ear 7-3-7-8 mm, hindfoot 9-7-10-1 mm; weight c.5-9 g. Condylo-incisive lengths are 17-7-17-8 mm. The Arabian White-toothed Shrew is small, with petite hindfeet. Dorsal pelage is w-gray, with brownish tinge; its 3mm hair is soft and dense. Shade of gray is lighter on venter. There is an indistinct dividing line between dorsum and venter. Dorsal surfaces of hands and feet are slightly paler than back. Consistently grayish brown tail is long compared with the Lesser White-toothed Shrew (C. suaveolens). Like some species of African savanna shrews, ears of the Arabian White-toothed Shrew are large and stick out from head. Skull is slender and similar to, smaller, and more dorsoventrally flattened than in the Lesser White-toothed Shrew. Rostrum, interorbital region, and palate of the Arabian White-toothed Shrew are slender, although not as elongated and narrow, relative to their size, as in the larger Dhofar White-toothed Shrew (C. dhofarensis). First upper unicuspid is twice as large as second and third unicuspids. M* is reduced to thin cone. <b>Habitat.</b> Coastal slopes and plains covered with grass or mix of trees and long grass. Habitats of the Arabian White-toothed Shrew are characterized by high numbers of endemic plants. <b>Food and Feeding.</b> The Arabian White-toothed Shrew probably eats invertebrates and seeds, but additional studies are needed. <b>Breeding.</b> No information. <b>Activity patterns.</b> Cranial parts and mandibles in owl pellets suggest that the Arabian White-toothed Shrew is nocturnal or crepuscular. <b>Movements, Home range and Social organization.</b> No information. <b>Status and Conservation.</b> Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. There are no signs that populations of Arabian White-toothed Shrews are declining. Urban expansion and increasingly intensive cattle grazing might affect some populations. It is considered data deficient in a preliminary red list ofterrestrial mammals of Oman. <b>Bibliography.</b> Bates &amp; Harrison (1984), Fisher (1999), Galletti et al. (2016), Harrison (1980), Harrison &amp; Bates (1991), Hutterer (2005b, 2008b), Hutterer &amp; Harrison (1988), Serhal &amp; Alkhuzai (2015), Silva &amp; Downing (1995), Yerbury &amp; Thomas (1895).
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 502-503, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6870843