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

description: 100. Berlandier’s Least Shrew <i>Cryptotis berlandieri</i> <b>French:</b> Musaraigne de Berlandier / <b>German:</b> Berlandier-Kleinohrspitzmaus / <b>Spanish:</b> Musarana minima de Berlandier <b>Other common names:</b> Berlandier's Shrew <b>Taxonomy.</b> Blarina berlandieri Baird, 1858, “ Matamoras [= Matamoros],” Tamaulipas, Mexico. Restricted by L. N. Carraway in 2007 to “latitude 25-91°N, longitude 97-5°W.” Cryptotis berlandieri has generally been considered a subspecies of C. parvus but here is recognized as a distinct species in the C. parvus group, although somewhat tentatively based primarily on limited morphological and genetic data. L. Gue- vara and F. A. Cervantes in 2014 found that C. berlandieri wassister to C. pueblensis with small genetic distance, indicating that these two species might be conspecific. In the same study, C. parvus wassister to the clade containing the two species with large genetic distance similar to that of other related species of Cryptotis, although they were all retained as subspecies of C. parvus with mention of their possible specific status. Boundary between C. berlandieri and C. parvus is somewhat uncertain. Traditional distribution of C. berlandieri includes southern Texas, but S. J. Hutchinson in 2010 found that Texan and north-eastern Mexican populations were morphometrically similar to C. parvus based on seven cranial measurements. He also concluded that C. berlandier: was better treated as a subspecies of C. parvus, but no specimens representing the species were tested genetically, and additional morphometric studies are needed to validate this. Additional research with more specimens is needed to validate the true relationship and distribution of C. berlandieri and the entire C. parvus group, but until additional studies are conducted, C. berlandieri is considered a distinct species, distributed in southern Texas and northern to central Mexico. Pleistocene fossil remains of this species have been found in south-eastern Chihuahua. Monotypic. <b>Distribution.</b> S Texas (SC USA) and Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, Tamaulipas, San Luis Potosi, Nayarit, Jalisco, Guanajuato, and Michoacan (Mexico). <b>Descriptive notes.</b> Head-body ¢.53-70 mm, tail 17 mm (tail length from holotype), hindfoot 10-12 mm. No specific data are available for body weight. Berlandier’s Least Shrew is the smallest member of the C. parvus group. Dorsum is light to medium brown, and venter is medium silver gray, with white hair tips, being more silvery distally. Forefeet are relatively broad, with short broad claws; feet are small and dusky in color. Tail is short (less than 45% of head-body length), covered with short hair, brown above, and slightly lighter below. Eyes are diminutive, and ears are small and barely visible under fur. Berlandier’s Least Shrew can be distinguished from the Puebla Least Shrew (C. pueblensis) and the Mexican Least Shrew (C. soricinus) by its lighter dorsum and silvery venter. Unlike other least shrews (C. parvus group), fourth unicuspid of Berlandier’s Least Shrew can be either somewhat obscured or completely visible in lateral view of skull. Skull is typical of other least shrews (detailed under the North American Least Shrew, C. parvus). Teeth are reddish, and there are four unicuspids. <b>Habitat.</b> Various habitats, including rocky grass fields near marshes, mesic woodlands, tropical deciduousforests, humid tropical forests, and agriculturalfields, with occasional records from fish hatcheries and pastures, from sea level to elevations of ¢.2750 m. <b>Food and Feeding.</b> Berlandier’s Least Shrew is carnivorous, feeding on a variety of invertebrates and, on occasion, vertebrates. <b>Breeding.</b> In Michoacan, a lactating Berlandier’s Least Shrew was captured in June; a female with four young was captured in a nest in April; and two pregnant females, one with three embryos and another with six embryos, were captured in July and May, respectively. <b>Activity patterns.</b> Berlandier’s Least Shrew is semi-fossorial and probably most active throughout the night. <b>Movements, Home range and Social organization.</b> Berlandier’s Least Shrews are probably as social as the North American Least Shrew. <b>Status and Conservation.</b> Not assessed on The IUCN Red List. Berlandier’s Least Shrew has a large distribution and seems to adapt well to habitat degradation, although very little is known ofits ecology and threats; additional studies are needed. <b>Bibliography.</b> Carraway (2007), Castro-Arellano (2014a), Choate (1970), Hutchinson (2010), Guevara &amp; Cervantes (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 431, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6870843