Armenian shrew
| Armenian shrew | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Eulipotyphla |
| Family: | Soricidae |
| Genus: | Crocidura |
| Species: | C. armenica
|
| Binomial name | |
| Crocidura armenica Gureev, 1963
| |
| Armenian shrew range | |
The Armenian shrew (Crocidura armenica) is a species of mammal in the family Soricidae. It is endemic to Armenia.
Taxonomy
Crocidura armenicai was named in 1963 by Gureev. It was known only from the two type specimens, both of which were damaged.[2] It is a member of the "pergrisea" species complex,[3] which is taxonomically controversial, and armenicai was not always considered a valid species: for instance Zitsev (1993) thought that it might be a subspecies of C. pergrisea, Hutterer (1993) and Kryštufek and Vohralík (2005) considered it a full species, while the 2018 Handbook of the Mammals of the World did not list it.[4] A 2024 study, using micro-CT scanning and genetic data, tentatively reanalyzed Crocidura armenica as a full species, and identified several new specimens from museum collections. They found that it was relatively close genetically to Crocidura arispa, but that there was a distinct difference in the skull and mandible shape.[2]
Description
The Armenian shrew is around 60 millimetres (2.4 in) long, with a 45 millimetres (1.8 in) tail. The fur is grey, with a white stomach. It changes shades in the winter and summer. It can be distinguished by the small skull and by characteristics of the teeth.[5]
There is minimal information on the behavior, habitat, and distribution of the Armenian shrew, which is not very well known.[6] It was first found in Armenia and thought to be endemic, but a 2024 paper tentatively identified as the Armenian shrew several specimens found in Azerbaijan.[2] Shrews of the "perigisea" group can be found in rocky habitats.[3]
Sources
- ^ Gerrie, R.; Kennerley, R. (2017) [errata version of 2016 assessment]. "Crocidura armenica". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T5596A115076665. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T5596A22303457.en. Retrieved 4 April 2022. Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is of data deficient
- ^ a b c Voyta, Leonid L.; Petrova, Tatyana V.; Panitsina, Valentina A.; Bodrov, Semyon Yu.; Winkler, Viola; Kryuchkova, Lyudmila Yu.; Abramson, Natalia I. (2024-06-18). "A Cybertaxonomic Revision of the "Crocidura pergrisea" Species Complex with a Special Focus on Endemic Rocky Shrews: Crocidura armenica and Crocidura arispa (Soricidae)". Biology. 13 (6): 448. doi:10.3390/biology13060448. ISSN 2079-7737. PMC 11200727. PMID 38927328.
- ^ a b Stakheev, V.V.; Lissovsky, A.A.; Obolenskaya, E.V. (2024-05-27). "The first record of the white-toothed rock shrew from "pergrisea" complex (Mammalia: Soricidae: Crocidura) on the territory of Russian Federation" (PDF). Russian Journal of Theriology. 23 (1): 25–30. doi:10.15298/rusjtheriol.23.1.03. ISSN 1682-3559.
- ^ Bannikova, Anna Andreevna; Lisenkova, Alexandra Andreevna; Solovyeva, Evgeniya Nikolaevna; Abramov, Alexei Vladimirovich; Sheftel, Boris Ilyich; Kryštufek, Boris; Lebedev, Vladimir Svyatoslavovich (2023-05-12). "The first phylogenetic data on the elusive shrews of the Crocidura pergrisea species complex". Hystrix: The Italian Journal of Mammalogy. 34 (1): 33–38. doi:10.4404/hystrix-00590-2022. ISSN 0394-1914.
- ^ Gureev, A. (1979). The Fauna of the USSR, Mammals, Volume 4, Issue 2, Insectivorous: Hedgehogs, Moles, and Shrews (Erinaceidae, Talpidae, Soricidae) (in Russian). Izdatel’stvo Nauka. pp. 401–402.
- ^ Parfitt, Simon A. (2016), Fernández-Jalvo, Yolanda; King, Tania; Yepiskoposyan, Levon; Andrews, Peter (eds.), "Rodents, Lagomorphs and Insectivores from Azokh Cave", Azokh Cave and the Transcaucasian Corridor, Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 163–176, doi:10.1007/978-3-319-24924-7_7, ISBN 978-3-319-24924-7, retrieved 2025-04-07