Crocidura usambarae Dippenaar 1980
Creators: name: Mittermeier, Russell A.
name: Wilson, Don E.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2018
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Mammalia
Soricomorpha
Soricidae
Crocidura
Crocidura usambarae

description: 351. Usambara White-toothed Shrew <i>Crocidura usambarae</i> <b>French:</b> Crocidure des Usambara / <b>German:</b> Usambara-WeiRRzahnspitzmaus / <b>Spanish:</b> Musarana de Usambara <b>Other common names:</b> Usambara Shrew <b>Taxonomy.</b> Crocidura usambarae Dippe- naar, 1980, “‘Shume, 16 m n Lushoto, Tanzania’ on specimen label. Shume lies 13 km NW Lushoto, western West Usam- bara Mts (4-67°S, 38-25°E, 1585 m).” Crocidura usambarae is sister to C. tansaniana in the C. monax clade. Monotypic. <b>Distribution.</b> Known only from Magamba, Shume, Chome, and Mazumbai, NE Tanzania. <b>Descriptive notes.</b> Head-body 75-93 mm, tail 54-62 mm, ear 9-10 mm, hindfoot 15-16 mm; weight 8-4-10-5 g. The Usambara White-toothed Shrew is medium-sized, with short ears that protrude beyond pelage. Dorsal and ventral pelage is rich brown, with steel gray hairs and brown tips. Feet are slightly paler than dorsum. Tail is ¢.73% of head-body length, hairy, covered with sparse short bristle hairs (shorter than most species of Crocidura) near basal 10-25% of its length, and dark brown. Cranium is relatively short and dorso-ventrally compressed; interorbital region is short and broad; braincase is stout and globose, with angular superior facet; maxillary plate is narrow and has large lachrymal foramen; lambdoidal crest is relatively prominent; I' is short and stout; and upper incisors are wide in occlusal view, with narrow cingula. There are three unicuspids. <b>Habitat.</b> Moist montane forest and adjacent habitats, including agricultural fields adjacent to montane forests in South Pare Mountains. Some Usambara White-toothed Shrews have been recorded in edge habitats of montane forests and disturbed montane forests. They are much less common butstill present in drier habitats. They have been recorded at elevations of 1580-1830 m in Mgamba, Shume, and Mazumai and above 1100 m in the Chome Forest Reserve. <b>Food and Feeding.</b> No information. <b>Breeding.</b> Pregnant Usambara White-toothed Shrews with five embryos have been captured in July-September in Chome; one female with two embryos was captured in January in the West Usambara Mountains. <b>Activity patterns.</b> No information. <b>Movements, Home range and Social organization.</b> No information. <b>Status and Conservation.</b> Classified as Vulnerable on The IUCN Red List. The Usambara White-toothed Shrew has been recorded in the Chome Forest Reserve and is considered the most common shrew there (making up 70% of shrews captured), although it has a very restricted distribution and is threatened by encroachment of humans in the region and mining in East Usambaras. <b>Bibliography.</b> Dippenaar (1980a), Giarla et al. (2017¢), Howell &amp; Jenkins (1984), Stanley (2013g), Stanley, Goodman &amp; Hutterer (1996), Stanley, Hutterer 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 520, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6870843