Thor armored shrew

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Thor armored shrew
Systematics
Superordinate : Laurasiatheria
Order : Insect eater (Eulipotyphla)
Family : Shrews (Soricidae)
Subfamily : Crocidurinae
Genre : Scutisorex
Type : Thor armored shrew
Scientific name
Scutisorex thori
Stanley et al., 2013

The Thor-hero shrew ( scutisorex thori ) is a mammal of the family of shrews (Soricidae). They and the related armored shrew differ from all other mammal species by the special structure of the spine . Scutisorex thori was in 2013 based on a single in Baleko in the Congolese province of Equateur described captured specimen.

description

With a total length of 21 centimeters and a 10.5 centimeter long tail and a weight of up to 45 grams, the Thor armored shrew is one of the largest shrew species. Compared to the armored shrew, Scutisorex thori has a narrower skull, a shorter fur, stronger and more flattened ribs, an only slightly striated parietal bone (compared to an extremely rough one in the armored shrew) and only eight lumbar vertebrae (compared to ten to eleven in the Armored shrew and five in most other mammal species). The whiskers are thin and long (up to 25 mm) and black to almost transparent. The back fur is 5 to 6 mm long and pale to grayish, some hairs have brown tips. In the back fur there are black, longer outer hairs that are 8 to 10 mm long. The peritoneum is short (2 to 3 mm) and light gray. The tail is dark brown on top, pale on the underside. The tail end is cream-colored. The feet are provided with thick curved claws and have short, black hair on their top.

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 .

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