Crocidura afeworkbekelei Voyta &amp; Hutterer 2016
Creators: name: Mittermeier, Russell A.
name: Wilson, Don E.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2018
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Mammalia
Soricomorpha
Soricidae
Crocidura
Crocidura afeworkbekelei

description: 320. Bekele’s White-toothed Shrew <i>Crocidura afeworkbekelei</i> <b>French:</b> Crocidure de Bekele / <b>German:</b> Bekele-WeiRRzahnspitzmaus / <b>Spanish:</b> Musarana de Bekele <b>Other common names:</b> Bekele's Shrew Taxonomy. Crocidura afeworkbekelei Lavrenchenko, Voyta &amp; Hutterer, 2016, “ Konteh Area of the Sanetti Plateau, Bale Mountains National Park, south-eastern Ethiopia, 06°51’N, 039°53’E, 4050 m a.s.1.” This species has the same karyotype as most of the other Ethiopian montane endemics, indicating that they may have originated from a widespread species which had populations that became sepa- rate in montane parts of the region and diversified into the current array of species. The karyoptype also indicates that African Crocidura may have come from a Palearctic branch of the genus, based on its similarity to the proposed ancestral karyotype of Crocidura. Monotypic. <b>Distribution.</b> Known only from the Konteh Area of the Sanetti Plateau in SC Ethiopia; it remains possible that this recently described species inhabits other parts of the plateau as well, although it is likely endemic to the Bale Mts. <b>Descriptive notes.</b> Head-body 78-85 mm, tail 43-48 mm, ear 8-5-10 mm, hindfoot (with claws) 16-3-17 mm. No specific data are available for body weight. Bekele’s White-toothed Shrew is a relatively small white-toothed shrew with a moderately short tail (50-6-61-5% of head-body length). Dorsal pelage grayish brown, with hairs gray at base and brown at tip; ventral pelage gray, with hairs gray at base, paleyellowish at tip. Dorsal surface of forefoot pale gray, hindfoot (19-21-7% of headbody length) yellowish-gray. Tail brown above and brownish gray below, but the distinction is not very strong; long bristle hairs are present all over the tail. Skull with a moderately short, broad rostrum and relatively broad maxillary and interorbital regions; medial tip of the posterior margin of the nasal aperture is absent; lacrimal foramenis at height of the M'-M?joint; mandible with a moderately broad body and a high and massive ramus. There are three unicuspids. Chromosomal complement is 2n = 36, FNa = 50. <b>Habitat.</b> Found in the Afro-alpine belt with short, sparse vegetation at an elevation of c.4050 m. <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> Not assessed on The IUCN Red List. Bekele’s White-toothed Shrew was only recently described based on specimens collected in 1995. It seems to have a restricted distribution but may not face any major threats, other than climate change, dueto its very isolated habitat at high elevations. <b>Bibliography.</b> Lavrenchenko et al. (2016).
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 509, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6870843