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Interspecific competition affects population dynamics, distributional ranges, and evolution of competing species. The competitive exclusion principle states that ecologically similar species cannot coexist unless they exhibit niche segregation. Herein, we assess whether niche segregation allows the coexistence of Crocidura russula and C. suaveolens in southwestern Iberia and whether segregation is the result of current (ecological effect) or past (evolutionary effect) competition. We performed an annual live-trapping cycle in the two main habitats of the Odiel Marshes Natural Reserve (OMNR), the tidal marsh and the Mediterranean forest, both in syntopic (i.e., where both species co-occur) and allotopic (where only one of the two species occurs) sites within this Reserve. We modeled the presence–absence of each species in both habitats and sites by generalized linear mixed models. The coexistence of both species was favored by spatial and temporal niche segregation. Crocidura suaveolens was restricted to tidal marsh and did not occupy Mediterranean forest, even when C. russula was absent. We interpret this to be the result of competition in the past triggering an evolutionary response in C. suaveolens towards its specialization in tidal marsh. Moreover, the specialist C. suaveolens currently is outcompeting C. russula in tidal marshes, reversing the dominance pattern observed elsewhere. The degree of co-occurrence between both species in syntopic sites was low, as they showed inverse dynamics of seasonal abundances. Interspecific competition leading to habitat specialization favors the coexistence of these ecologically similar species.

We describe a new species of Crocidura (Soricidae) from Sulawesi Island, Indonesia, documenting its novelty with both genetic and morphological characters. The new species is widespread on the island, with vouchered records from nine general localities distributed among five of the island’s areas of endemism. Morphologically, the new species is readily distinguished from all other described Sulawesi Crocidura by its intermediate body size, gray pelage, and long, hairy tail. The new species was mainly captured in pitfalls placed in the ground, but we also obtained evidence that it readily climbs trees and may be scansorial in its locomotor habits. Populations of the new species sampled from across the island are closely related, separated by < 0.02 uncorrected mitochondrial p-distances. The new species is one member of an endemic radiation of shrews on Sulawesi now known to contain six valid species and several undescribed species, all within the genus Crocidura. Resolution of species limits and phylogenetic relationships in this radiation is hindered by habitat loss at type localities, historical designation of new species using very small sample sizes, and a lack of genetic data from type specimens.Kami mendeskripsikan spesies baru Crocidura (Soricidae) dari Pulau Sulawesi, Indonesia, sekaligus mendokumentasikan keunikan karakter secara genetik maupun morfologi dari spesies tersebut. Spesies baru ini tersebar luas di Pulau Sulawesi, diketahui berdasarkan spesimen yang berasal dari sembilan lokasi umum yang tersebar di lima kawasan endemik di pulau tersebut. Secara morfologi, spesies baru ini dapat dibedakan dari spesies Crocidura lainnya dari Sulawesi berdasarkan ukuran tubuh yang sedang, rambut tubuh berwarna abu-abu, dan ekor yang panjang dan berambut. Spesies baru ini sebagian besar diperoleh dari perangkap sumuran yang ditanam didalam tanah, selain itu kami juga mendapatkan bukti bahwa spesies ini mampu memanjat pohon dan kemungkinan memiliki perilaku sebagai pemanjat. Beberapa populasi spesies yang dikoleksi dari Sulawesi ini mempunyai kekerabatan yang dekat, hanya dipisahkan oleh jarak proporsi DNA mitokondria (tidak terkoreksi) sebesar < 0.02. Spesies baru ini merupakan salah satu anggota dari suatu kelompok radiasi endemik cecurut di Sulawesi yang sampai saat ini diketahui terdiri atas enam spesies yang valid, dan beberapa spesies yang belum dideskripsikan, semuanya termasuk didalam genus Crocidura. Kepastian dalam menetapkan batasan jarak antar spesies dan hubungan kekerabatan genetik dari radiasi kelompok cecurut di Sulawesi terkendala oleh kerusakan habitat pada lokasi spesimen tipe, sejarah penamaan spesies yang hanya berdasarkan sampel yang sedikit, dan keterbatasan data molekuler dari spesimen tipe.

Animals served important roles in the religious cults that proliferated during the Late (ca. 747–332 BCE) and Greco-Roman Periods (332 BCE–CE 337) of ancient Egypt. One result was the interment of animal mummies in specialized necropolises distributed throughout the country. Excavation of a rock-tomb that was re-used during the Ptolemaic Period (ca. 309–30 BCE) for the interment of animal mummies at the Djehuty Site (TT 11–12) near Luxor, Egypt, was carried out in early 2018 by a Spanish–Egyptian team sponsored by the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Madrid. The tomb burned sometime after deposition of the mummies, leaving behind abundant disassociated skeletal remains, primarily of avians, but also including two species of shrews (Soricidae): Crocidura olivieri and C. religiosa. To investigate possible intraspecific variation in morphology and locomotor function in these two species during the last two millennia, we measured morphological features of individual postcranial bones from the two archaeological samples and calculated indices that have been used to assess locomotor function. We compared the measurements to those from modern C. olivieri, C. religiosa, and C. suaveolens using principal components analysis, and we compared locomotor indices to those we calculated for the three modern species of Crocidura and to those from nine species of myosoricine shrews. Osteological features of the postcranial skeleton of conspecific Ptolemaic and modern samples of C. olivieri and C. religiosa are generally similar in character and proportion, and, skeletally, these shrews and modern C. suaveolens are consistent with soricids having a primarily ambulatory locomotor mode. One exception is the deltopectoral crest of the humerus, which appears to be longer in modern C. religiosa. Despite general conservation of form and function, Ptolemaic C. olivieri had larger body size than modern Egyptian populations and were more similar in size to modern C. olivieri nyansae from Kenya than to modern C. olivieri olivieri from Egypt.

We document the existence of a new species of shrew (Soricomorpha, Soricidae, Crocidura) in West Java, Indonesia, using both morphological and genetic data. Relative to other Southeast Asian Crocidura, the new species is medium-sized with a slender body and long tail, which together readily distinguish it from all other Javan shrews. Morphological differences between the new species and Crocidura paradoxura, another long-tailed shrew that is endemic to Sumatra, are subtle, but genetic differences suggest a long, independent evolutionary history. This description brings to 5 the total number of species of Crocidura recognized from Java. All 5 species are endemic to the island and as many as 4 occur in syntopy. Further investigation is needed to document geographical ranges of shrew species on Java, especially along the island's east–west climatic gradient, where previously proposed subspecies boundaries may be coincident with transitions in precipitation patterns.

Recent molecular phylogenetic studies of Southeast Asian shrews (Crocidura) suggest that Crocidura mindorus, as currently defined, is diphyletic. The species is reported from Mindoro (type locality) and Sibuyan islands in the Philippines, each of which has been isolated from other land masses over considerable geological timescales. We examined morphological evidence to determine whether the Mindoro and Sibuyan populations represent distinct, endemic species. We found that the two populations differ in discrete and mensural characters. This evidence, combined with previous molecular phylogenetic studies, confirms that the Sibuyan population is an isolated, independently evolving lineage, and we formally describe it as a new species, Crocidura ninoyi.

The social and genetic mating systems of species can differ. This discrepancy occurs in many birds; however, only 2 studies have examined this issue for shrews, and both were conducted on species that live in temperate regions. We provide the 1st spatial and genetic data to reveal the mating system of the Asian lesser white-toothed shrew (Crocidura shantungensis) in a subtropical region. We tested the hypothesis that the mating system of shrews in the subfamily Crocidurinae is monogamous in subtropical or tropical regions with seasonal climate and resource availability. We used capture–mark–recapture methods to assess spatial organization of shrews during the reproductive season in 2006, and applied 8 microsatellite primers to perform parentage analyses and examine multiple paternity within litters. Males had larger home ranges than females, and the home ranges of resident females, but not males, overlapped with more opposite-sex than same-sex individuals. This spatial structure suggested a polyg...

Twelve Afromontane grassland fragments and 12 control sites were created in a pine-afforested region at Groenvaly in South Africa. Three live-trapping surveys of small mammals were performed, 1 survey a year before planting, 1 immediately after planting, and one 4 years later, yielding 768 small mammals representing 8 species. In 1998, small-mammal assemblages inside the plantations were also monitored. Between 1994 and 1998, similar changes in assemblage structure occurred in control sites and experimental fragments. In small fragments, Crocidura was comparatively abundant, apparently attributable to edge effects. Despite extensive habitat disturbance through afforestation by 1998, assemblage structure and movement distances within the plantation were similar to those recorded in undisturbed grassland assemblages. We conclude that, 4 years after afforestation, small mammals do not yet experience afforestation as a major habitat fragmenting force, and that gradual fragmentation at Groenvaly yields trends in small-mammal assemblages that are quite different from those of experiments employing abrupt habitat fragmentation.

Many systematic relationships among Chinese white-toothed shrews of genus Crocidura are presently unresolved. In this paper, a taxonomic revision of Crocidura from Southern China is presented. We studied 338 specimens from Burma, China, Korea, Pakistan, Turkey, Middle and Central Asia, and Russia (Appendix I), 285 of which had complete skulls that were analyzed with principal component and discriminant analyses. Results indicated that 6 species of Crocidura can be recognized in South China. C. fuliginosa occurs in Southwestern and Eastern China, C. attenuata is broadly distributed throughout Southern China, and C. horsfieldii is restricted to the southern part of China. C. vorax and C. rapax, usually placed as synonyms of the European C. russula, are recognized as 2 valid species whose ranges overlap in Southwestern China. C. shantungensis of Eastern Asia extends to the northern part of Southern China and is distinct from C. suaveolens and C. gmelini of Middle and Central Asia, respectively.

The lesser white-toothed shrew (Crocidura suaveolens) is a common but infrequently studied small insectivore. Because of difficulty in conducting direct observations in nature on the social behavior of this species, we designed a laboratory study to evaluate its social organization. We conducted encounters between strange pairs of shrews, simulating such interactions in the wild, in neutral sites, or between ‘‘resident’’ and ‘‘intruder’’ shrews. The effect of familiarity was tested by observing encounters between the same pairs immediately after the encounter and 24 h later. Sexual conflict was observed between male and female shrews, with males trying to mount females during the initial encounters and intensive female agonistic behavior toward the males. In addition, whereas males were equally aggressive to both sexes, female aggression toward another female was rarely observed. Familiarity between the pair resulted in decreased levels of aggression and increased tendency to spend time with the opponent regardless of its sex. We suggest that sexual differences in behavior of shrews result from differences in breeding strategies: males attempt to mate with the maximum number of females, and females try to establish long-term relationships with specific males. Long-term familiarity maximizes the pair bond, maximizes the female’s reproductive success, and may allow free access of females to food resources in stable overlapping home ranges of males prior to parturition.

To assess the Zoogeographie and phylogenetic relationships of C. dsinezumi , its systematic position has been investigated through electrophoretic comparisons. These comparisons comprise typical Indomalayan and Palaearctic species, including C mssula , the supposed sister taxon of the Japanese white-toothed shrew. The range of measured genetic distances that separate dsinezumi from the other shrews (Nei's D = 0.232–0.406) is typical for interspecific comparisons among Crocidura taxa. Our results reinforce morphologic considerations that suggest C. dsinezumi be treated as a valid species. Phylogenetic relationships deduced from a cladistic treatment of allozyme data refute the possibility that the western Palaearctic C mssula is the sister taxon of C. dsinezumi . Zoogeographie interpretation of the genetic results indicates that the Southeast Asian representatives constitute a clade distinct from one that includes the Palaearctic species. However, C dsinezumi is difficult to assign to either clade due to many intermediate or plesiomorphic electrophoretic characters. Unlike the major karyologic and biochemical separation that divides Afrotropical and Palaearctic species, the subdivision between Palaearctic and Indomalayan Crocidura is not correlated with any trend in karyotypic evolution. It also is shown that the Eurasiatic species of Crocidura possessing 2n = 40 chromosomes (including C. dsinezumi ) do not represent a particular clade, but probably share a plesiomorphic character. Further analysis of other Indian or Asiatic species is needed to test whether the Palaearctic versus Indomalayan separation is due to real Zoogeographie barriers or whether it is the result of limited samples.

The life cycle of the Stilly shrew ( Crocidura suaveolens cassiteridum ) was analyzed from samples collected in nine trips to the Stilly Isles from January 1961 to August 1962. A considerable difference in the onset of reproduction occurred in the two years studied. In 1961 some females bred in January; young animals were trapped in March. About equal numbers of adults and juveniles were collected in May, and the latter were in a definite majority in July. Juvenile shrews were not trapped until June in 1962. In August they made up the majority of the sample. The mean embryo number of 31 pregnant females was 2.97, with a range from 1 to 5. Twenty-four per cent of the juvenile females trapped during the breeding season were pregnant or lactating. The testes in few juvenile males attained adult weights in the spring and summer. Testis regression was observed after July. Molting Crocidura were present in all but the November–December sample. Shrews showing the spring molt pattern were trapped from January to August, while those showing the fall pattern were collected from August to October. Adults were found to undergo a fall molt.

Myosorex Gray is one of the three genera of shrews occurring in Southern Africa, the other two being Crocidura Wagler and Suncus Hemprich and Ehrenberg. The affinities of these and other African shrews have been discussed in previous papers (Meester, 1953, 1954) and a recent paper by De Balsac and Lamotte (1956) includes an extensive discussion on the intrageneric classification of Myosorex , with the description of several new forms from Central and East Africa. A taxonomic study of Myosorex has brought to light certain interesting facts concerning the nature and extent of variation in the Southern African representatives of this genus. These facts, and some speculations based on them regarding the origin and development of the species concerned form the subject matter of the present paper. The material studied consists of skins and skulls of Myosorex from a number of Southern African localities. A list of these localities, with their geographic loci indicated after the system used by Davis (1949), and with the number of specimens from each locality, appears in Table 1. The localities are further indicated by squares on the distribution maps of the two species (Fig. 1). Fig. 1 Distribution of Myosorex in Southern Africa. Left, M. varius ; right, M. cafer . For further details, see text. View this table: Table 1. Locality list, with loci indicated after the system used by Davis (1949), and the number of specimens from each locality Several species and subspecies of Myosorex have been described from Southern Africa. Of these only two, M. varius (Smuts) and M. cafer (Sundevall), are currently regarded as good species (De Balsac and Lamotte, 1956). The other forms are for the most part based on minor variations in color and size, and can consequently all be disregarded, with the exception of M. sclateri sclateri Thomas and …

The occurrence of extra teeth in insectivores is apparently not common. Palmer (Jour. Mamm., 18: 280–314, 1937) states that approximately 10 per cent of the specimens of the mole Scapanus , examined by him, had abnormal dentitions, the tendency being toward a reduction but with some increase in the number of teeth. In every case the increase or decrease was in the …