Phillips Congo Shrew

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Phillips Congo Shrew
Systematics
Superordinate : Laurasiatheria
Order : Insect eater (Eulipotyphla)
Family : Shrews (Soricidae)
Subfamily : Myosoricinae
Genre : Congo shrews ( Congosorex )
Type : Phillips Congo Shrew
Scientific name
Congosorex phillipsorum
Stanley , Rogers & Hutterer , 2005

Phillips Congo shrew ( Congosorex phillipsorum ) was only described as a new species in 2005. It is in the Ndundulu and Nyumbanitu Forest in the Udzungwa Mountains in Tanzania endemic .

features

Phillips Congo shrews are very small, stocky animals with a medium-length tail. The head-trunk length is between 6.8 and 7.6 cm, the tail length between 3.5 and 4 cm. The mean weight is nine grams. The animals are covered with an almost monochrome dark brown fur, the hair of which is 5 mm long on the back and 3 mm long on the belly. The hair is slate gray and has dark brown tips. The hair on the abdomen is only slightly lighter than the hair on the back. The vibrissae are 1 to 1.4 cm long, thin and transparent. The head is relatively long and makes up a third of the head-trunk length. The ears are barely visible and covered with long hair. The front and rear feet are covered with large scales on their upper side.

Way of life

Phillips Congo shrew lives in mossy mountain forests, bamboo forests and moors at altitudes of 1500 to just over 2000 meters. It is ground dwelling and nocturnal. There are four other species of shrew in their range, including the Hildegarde shrew ( Crocidura hildegardeae ), the Kilimanjaro shrew ( Crocidura monax ) and the Kihaule wood shrew ( Myosorex kihaulei ). Although Phillips Congo shrew is the most common of the shrew species in the Udzungwa Mountains, according to the IUCN it is considered " critically endangered " due to its small distribution area .

literature

  • William T. Stanley: Congosorex phillipsorum Phillip's Congo Shrew, page 51 in Meredith Happold and David Happold (Eds.): Mammals of Africa Volume IV. Hedgehogs, Shrews and Bats. Bloomsbury, London, 2013, ISBN 978-1-4081-2254-9

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