Crocidura

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Crocidura[1]
Temporal range: Late Miocene–recent
Greater white-toothed shrew, C. russula
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Eulipotyphla
Family: Soricidae
Subfamily: Crocidurinae
Genus: Crocidura
Wagler, 1832
Type species
Sorex leucodon [2]
(Hermann, 1780)
Species

See text.

The

Crocidurinae. Members of the genus are commonly called white-toothed shrews or musk shrews, although both also apply to all of the species in the subfamily. With over 180 species, Crocidura contains the most species of any mammal genus.[3] The name Crocidura means "woolly tail", because the tail of Crocidura species are covered in short hairs interspersed with longer ones.[4]

They are found throughout all tropical and temperate regions of the Old World, from South Africa north to Europe, and east throughout Asia, as far east as the Malay Archipelago. One species, the possibly extinct Christmas Island shrew (C. trichura), also inhabited Christmas Island. They likely originated in Africa or Asia Minor during the Miocene, spread to Europe by the early Pliocene, and spread to eastern Asia and the Mediterranean by the Pleistocene.[5][6]

List of species

Extant species

Extinct species

Fossil species

A significant diversity of extinct Crocidura species is known from the early-mid Pleistocene of Morocco, but by the majority of these species went extinct between the Middle to Late Pleistocene boundary, and were replaced by modern species.[17] Indeterminate Crocidura remains are known from the Miocene-aged rocks in the Potwar Plateau of Pakistan, concurrent with fossils from the Shivalik Fossil Beds.[19]

Cultural significance

Crocidura shrews were embalmed in Ancient Egypt, being associated with the dark aspect of the god Horus. Many of these mummies have been uncovered during excavations at the Falcon Necropolis, providing important information about the former diversity of shrews in this area.[16]

References

  1. OCLC 62265494
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  4. ^ Palmer, T.S. Index generum mammalium : a list of the genera and families of mammals. p. 204.
  5. ^ "white-toothed shrew | mammal genus | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2022-02-20.
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    ISSN 1616-5047
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  8. ^ Meegaskumbura; et al. (2007-12-19). "Crocidura hikmiya, a new shrew (Mammalia: Soricomorpha: Soricidae) from Sri Lanka" (PDF). Zootaxa. 1665: 19–30. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2007-12-19.
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  19. ^ Flynn, Jacobs, Kimura, Taylor & Tomida (March 2020). "SIWALIK FOSSIL SORICIDAE: A CALIBRATION POINT FOR THE MOLECULAR PHYLOGENY OF SUNCUS". Paludicola. 12 (4): 247–258.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)