Crocidura picea Sanderson 1940
Creators: name: Mittermeier, Russell A.
name: Wilson, Don E.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2018
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Mammalia
Soricomorpha
Soricidae
Crocidura
Crocidura picea

description: 411. Cameroon White-toothed Shrew <i>Crocidura picea</i> <b>French:</b> Crocidure bitumée / <b>German:</b> Kamerun-Weil3zahnspitzmaus / <b>Spanish:</b> Musarana de Camerun <b>Other common names:</b> Assumbo Shrew, Cameroon Shrew, Pitch Shrew <b>Taxonomy.</b> Crocidura occidentalis picea Sanderson, 1940, Tinta, 701 m, Assumbo, Mamfe Division, Cameroon. Crocidura picea was originally described as a subspecies of C. occidentalis (part of C. olwieri). Its phylogenetic relationship is unknown. Monotypic. <b>Distribution.</b> Presumably endemic to mountains of Cameroon; known from type locality, Bamenda Highlands, and more recently from Mt Oku. <b>Descriptive notes.</b> Head—body 75-76 mm, tail 43-47 mm, ear 89 mm, hindfoot 13-14 mm; weight 12-13 g. Condylo-incisive length is 21-8-22 mm. The Cameroon White-toothed Shrew is medium-sized and dark, almost black with shiny black flesh-parts and extremely long muzzle, feet, hands, and tail. Upperparts are medium to dark grayish brown or black, with inconspicuous flecking. Basal two-third of hairs are gray, and terminal band is brown or grayish brown. Ventral pelage is slightly paler and grayer, with gray-based hair and medium gray terminal hairs. Ears are prominent, moderately large, and not concealed by pelage. Forefeet and hindfeet are blackish brown, with short dark brown hairs and sharp claws. Tail is ¢.55% of head-body length and unicolored blackish brown, with 78% pilosity (long, white bristles). According to type description, the most noticeable features were wrists and ankles, which were slender and naked for some considerable distance up forearms and legs. Eyes measured 2:5 mm wide; no other shrew collected has eyes that exceed c.l mm. Braincase is medium-sized. I' is long and hooked, and M?is medium-sized. <b>Habitat.</b> Known only from montane tropical moist forests at elevations of 1200-1800 m. Type specimen was caught in “False mountain grass; dry locality with sandy soil.” The Cameroon White-toothed Shrew is very uncommon, with very few specimens recorded. <b>Food and Feeding.</b> No information. <b>Breeding.</b> No information. <b>Activity patterns.</b> No information. <b>Movements, Home range and Social organization.</b> No information. <b>Status and Conservation.</b> Classified as Endangered on The IUCN Red List. Area of occupancy of the Cameroon White-toothed Shrew is probably less than 500 km? with all individuals in fewer than five locations, and extent ofits forest habitat in the Cameroon mountains is continuing to decline. The Cameroon mountains are an isolated area, and surveys of other mountain blocks have not found Cameroon White-toothed Shrews. It is threatened by extensive habitat destruction and degradation in the Cameroon mountains, including the protected Mount Oku area. It occurs in Mount Oku Community Forest Reserve. There is an urgent need to effectively conserve remaining areas of montane forest in the Cameroon highlands. Additional studies are needed on its natural history and population status. <b>Bibliography.</b> Heim de Balsac &amp; Hutterer (1982), Hutterer &amp; Howell (2008d), Hutterer (1993, 2005b, 2013t), Sanderson (1940), Schlitter et al. (1999).
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 538, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6870843