Tibetan shrew
| Tibetan shrew | ||||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Sorex thibetanus | ||||||||||||
| Kastchenko , 1905 |
The Tibetan shrew ( Sorex thibetanus ) is a species of shrew from the genus of the red -toothed shrew ( Sorex ). It occurs in the Tian Shan in the People's Republic of China in the eastern Xinjiang autonomous region as well as in western Kazakhstan and northern Kyrgyzstan .
features
With a head-torso length of 5.1 to 6.4 centimeters, the Tibetan shrew is one of the medium-sized to small shrew species. The tail reaches a length of 32 to 54 millimeters - and is therefore only slightly shorter than the rest of the body - the rear foot is 12 to 13 millimeters.
| 1 | · | 5 | · | 1 | · | 3 | = 32 |
| 1 | · | 1 | · | 1 | · | 3 |
The skull has a total length of 16 to 18 millimeters. As most species of the genus has the type in the maxilla per half an incisor (incisor) and then five unicuspid teeth, a Vorbackenzahn (premolar) and three molars (molar). In the lower jaw, however, it has a single canine behind the incisor. Overall, the animals have a set of 32 teeth. The tooth roots are colored red as in most red-toothed shrews. The second single-pointed tooth of the upper jaw is smaller than the first and third, which are both about the same size. Compared to the pygmy shrew ( S. minutus ), the species is slightly larger and differs from it in the ratio of the crown to the base of the single-pointed teeth of the upper jaw.
distribution
The Tibetan shrew is likely endemic to the People's Republic of China and is found in Qinghai , Sichuan , Gansu, and Xizang provinces . The altitude distribution is probably between 2000 and 3000 meters.
Way of life
As with many species of the genus, there is only little data available about the way of life of this species; it probably corresponds to that of other shrews of their size. The habitat consists of different habitats between moderately warm mountain forests and the high mountains.
Systematics
The Tibetan shrew is classified as an independent species within the genus of the red -toothed shrew ( Sorex ), which consists of around 80 species. The first scientific description comes from Kastschenko from 1905, who described an individual from the Qaidam Basin , Qinghai Province . The species was partially assigned to the pygmy shrew ( S. minutus ) as a subspecies. However, the systematic position of these and other species of the Himalayas is largely unclear to this day and the type of the University of Tomsk was considered lost. Subsequently, the Tibetan shrew was used to bring together the Bukhara shrew ( S. buchariensis ), the Kozlov shrew ( S. kozlovi ), the Kashmir pygmy shrew ( S. planiceps ) and other individuals from Nepal and China. Later the type reappeared in Moscow and S. thibetanus was described anew with several subspecies. The subspecies were subsequently due to significant differences and experience with other dwarf shrews like the Caucasus pygmy shrew ( S. volnuchini ), the Lapland Shrew ( S. caecutiens ) and the Shinto Shrew ( S. shinto again recognized as a separate species) mostly . The Kozlov shrew is still partly considered a subspecies of S. thibetanus today .
Apart from the nominate form Sorex thibetanus thibetanus, no further subspecies are distinguished within the species .
Threat and protection
The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) does not classify the Tibetan shrew due to lack of data and is listed as "data deficient"; until 1996 it was classified as endangered. Few reliable data are known about the species and its systematic position is uncertain.
literature
- Robert S. Hoffmann, Darrin Lunde: Tibetan Shrew. In: Andrew T. Smith , Yan Xie: A Guide to the Mammals of China. Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ 2008, ISBN 978-0-691-09984-2 , p. 319.
Web links
- Sorex thibetanus inthe IUCN 2013 Red List of Threatened Species . Listed by: AT Smith, 2008. Retrieved January 2, 2014.
supporting documents
- ↑ a b c d e Robert S. Hoffmann, Darrin Lunde: Tibetan Shrew. In: Andrew T. Smith , Yan Xie: A Guide to the Mammals of China. Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ 2008, ISBN 978-0-691-09984-2 , p. 319.
- ↑ a b c d Sorex thibetanus in the Red List of Threatened Species of the IUCN 2013.2. Listed by: AT Smith, 2008. Retrieved January 2, 2014.
- ↑ a b c d Sorex thibetanus ( Memento of the original from January 3, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . In: 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 .
