Shrew rats
| Shrew rats | ||||||||||||
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Crunomys fallax (above) |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Crunomys | ||||||||||||
| Thomas , 1897 |
The shrew rats ( Crunomys ) are a genus of rodents from the group of old world mice . The four species of this genus live in the Philippines and Sulawesi .
General
Shrew rats reach a head body length of 10 to 13 centimeters, the tail measures 7 to 9 centimeters. The dense, short fur is prickly in the three Filipino species, but soft in the species on Sulawesi. Its color varies from gray to dark brown to almost black, the underside is a little lighter. The short tail and the arrangement of the arteries are characteristic of the genus .
As far as is known, the animals live in forests, often near rivers, and are ground dwellers.
Systematics
Wilson & Reeder (2005) list the shrew rats as the namesake of the Crunomys genus group, as well as the species Sommeromys macrorhinos that lives on Sulawesi . According to the genetic studies by Lecompte et al. (2008) the animals of the Crunomys group are part of a radiation of the old world mice, the Rattini , which is mainly found in Southeast Asia, New Guinea and Australia . This radiation also includes the Crunomys group , the Dacnomys group , the Maxomys group , the Micromys group and the Rattus group .
There are four types:
- Crunomys celebensis is the only species that lives on Sulawesi, the species is only known from three specimens.
- Crunomys fallax is only known from one specimen found on the Philippines island of Luzon .
- Crunomys melanius lives on Mindanao and Leyte and is the only known more common species.
- Crunomys suncoides is only known from one specimen found on Mindanao.
Due to the sparse findings, three of the four species are listed by the IUCN under “too little data available” ( data deficient ), only C. melanius has the status “endangered” ( vulnerable ).
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 .
- Don E. Wilson , DeeAnn M. Reeder (Eds.): Mammal Species of the World. A taxonomic and geographic Reference. 2 volumes. 3. Edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD 2005, ISBN 0-8018-8221-4 .
- Emilie Lecompte, Ken Aplin, Christiane Denys, François Catzeflis, Marion Chades, Pascale Chevret: Phylogeny and biogeography of African Murinae based on mitochondrial and nuclear gene sequences, with a new tribal classification of the subfamily. In: BMC Evolutionary Biology. Vol. 8, 199, 2008, pp. 1-21, doi : 10.1186 / 1471-2148-8-199 .
Web links
- Crunomys on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Retrieved October 16, 2009.
- South Philippine shrew rat, with photo