Scutisorex
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Hero shrew ( scutisorex somereni ), preparation and skeleton exhibited in the Paleontological Museum Zurich |
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| Scutisorex | ||||||||||||
| Thomas , 1910 |
Scutisorex is aspecies of shrew foundin the northern Democratic Republic of the Congo as well as Uganda and Rwanda . The species-poor genus consists only of the armored shrew ( Scutisorex somereni ) and Scutisorex thori , which was only described in 2013.
features
The two Scutisorex species are relatively large shrews and reach body lengths of 12 to 15 centimeters with a seven to 10.5 centimeter long tail and a weight of up to 110 grams. A characteristic feature of the genus is the reinforced lumbar spine , in which the vertebrae are not only connected to one another, as in most vertebrates, by lateral processes, but also by dorsal (facing towards the back) and ventral (facing towards the abdomen). The characteristic of the reinforced lumbar spine is more developed in the armored shrew than in Scutisorex thori . The armored shrew has a lumbar spine made up of ten to eleven vertebrae, while it consists of eight vertebrae in Scutisorex thori and five vertebrae in most other mammals.
Due to the reinforced spine, the back is extremely flexible and at the same time highly resilient. This will likely allow the animals access to food sources that are inaccessible to other animals. It was observed that the shrews squeeze between the trunk and the leaf bases of palm trees and prey on beetle larvae there.
Systematics
Scutisorex belongs to the subfamily of the white-toothed or eyelash shrews (Crocidurinae) and is regarded there as a sister genus of all other white-toothed shrews or belongs together with the genera Ruwenzorisorex , Sylvisorex , Suncus to a clade within the white-toothed shrews.
literature
- William T. Stanley, Lynn W. Robbins, Jean M. Malekani, Sylvestre Gambalemoke Mbalitini, Dudu Akaibe Migurimu, Jean Claude Mukinzi, Jan Hulselmans, Vanya Prévot, Erik Verheyen, Rainer Hutterer , Jeffrey B. Doty, Benjamin P. Monroe, Yoshinori J. Nakazawa, Zachary Braden, Darin Carroll, Julian C. Kerbis Peterhans, John M. Bates, Jacob A. Esselstyn: A new hero emerges: another exceptional mammalian spine and its potential adaptive significance. In: Biology Letters. Vol. 9, No. 5, 2013, ISSN 1744-9561 , doi : 10.1098 / rsbl.2013.0486 .
Web links
- Field Museum. New species of Hero Shrew found in equatorial Africa: Most bizarre mammalian spine on Earth. ScienceDaily, July 24, 2013.