Congo eyelash shrews

Congo eyelash shrews
Systematics
Subclass :	Higher mammals (Eutheria)
Superordinate :	Laurasiatheria
Order :	Insect eater (Eulipotyphla)
Family :	Shrews (Soricidae)
Subfamily :	Crocidurinae
Genre :	Congo eyelash shrews
Scientific name
	Paracrocidura
	Heim de Balsac , 1956

The Congo eyelash shrews ( Paracrocidura ) are a species of three shrews living in central Africa .

The shrews of this genus are similar to the white- toothed shrews ( Crocidura ), but differ in the comparatively large head and details in the structure of the teeth. The limbs and tail are relatively short, the thin, short fur is black-gray or dark brown in color. These animals reach head body lengths of 65 to 96 millimeters, tail lengths of 33 to 46 millimeters and a weight of 13 to 16 grams.

The distribution area of these shrews extends from Cameroon and the Central African Republic to the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda . Their habitat are rain , cloud and cloud forests at heights between 200 and 2350 meters. Little is known about the way of life: these animals are likely to be ground dwellers and search the leaves lying on the ground for food.

There are three known species of this genus.

The small Congo-eyelash shrew ( Paracrocidura schoutedeni ) or Schoutedens big- headed shrew is the best known species of this genus. Their distribution area extends from Cameroon to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The greater Congo-eyelash shrew ( Paracrocidura maxima ) is slightly larger and lives in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo as well as Rwanda and Uganda.

The Itombwe- eyelash shrew ( Paracrocidura graueri ), also known as Grauer's big- headed shrew , is only known from a single specimen found in the Itombwe Mountains in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The degree of endangerment of this species is not known.

literature

Ronald M. Nowak: Walker's Mammals of the World. 2 volumes. 6th edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD et al. 1999, ISBN 0-8018-5789-9 .

Individual evidence

^ Murray Wrobel: Elsevier's Dictionary of Mammals. In Latin, English, German, French, and Italian. Elsevier, Amsterdam et al. 2007, ISBN 978-0-444-51877-4 .

Web links

Commons : Congo-eyelash shrews ( Paracrocidura ) - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Endangerment level of the individual species in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species .

[1] Murray Wrobel: Elsevier's Dictionary of Mammals. In Latin, English, German, French, and Italian. Elsevier, Amsterdam et al. 2007, ISBN 978-0-444-51877-4 .