There are three shrews in South China
A number of naturalists have long suspected that the situation with respect to shrews, Order Insectivora, Family Soricidae, is more complex in our region than acknowledged in the standard texts. The problems begin with Glover Morrill Allen's classic ". ..Mammals of China...," published in 1938. Allen saw no specimens of any shrews from Guangdong, Guangxi, or Hong Kong. He included these parts of South China in the overall ranges of two species: the large Suncus murinus and the smaller Crocidura attenuata. This is the standard arrangement followed by Marshall (1967), Hill and Phillipps (1981), and Dudgeon and Corlett (1994).
There are immediate problems, however. Allen gives measurements for 10 specimens of S. murinus, all from Fukien (Fujian), as far north in China as he had records. His specimens had much smaller feet, about 14 mm, and much larger ears, about 20 mm, than in Hong Kong or Guangdong specimens. Further, Allen describes these shrews as "brownish gray" and "hardly different" from Crocidura attenuata. Allen's description of C. attenuata fits our smaller species quite nicely in size and color: "...brownish gray above, and a paler, clearer gray below...."
Our Suncus murinus are typically much darker than our Crocidura, being sooty gray above and below. The name "Crocidura microtus" is based on a Hong Kong shrew assumed (by Allen) to be a juvenile S. murinus. Its measurements are equivocal, but the upper tooth row, given as 13 mm, fits this species. It was described by Wilhelm Peters of Berlin in 1870; it is doubtful if the specimen still exists, but possible. That name is potentially available for our large shrew.
In July 1997 we collected a series of a third kind of shrew on the island of Nan Ao, on the Tropic of Cancer at the extreme east of Guangdong Province. These look like miniature S. murinus at first glance: sooty above and below - even blacker than most Suncus - with stout, conically tapering tails and large, conspicuous lateral glands. However, their ears are very reduced. Like Suncus, they have a diastema, or gap in the tooth row. They are not juveniles. Males had enormous testes (proportional to their small overall size) and one female contained two embryos. These specimens were deposited with the Department of Biology, Shantou University, which sponsored our trip. Subsequently, some were exchanged with the Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University (YPM). I have long deposited my Hong Kong specimens there, as have other collectors (Fred Sibley, Numi Goodyear Mitchell). Having all three kinds together enables me to boldly state my conclusion: three species (see box).
Nowak, (1991) lists three species of Crocidura in addition to C. attenuata that might occur in our region: C fuliginosa, "Southern China," C. gueldenstaedti. "...China, Taiwan," and C. horsfieldi, "...China..., Taiwan. Hainan." He does not provide details or descriptions and 1 know nothing about these species.
Nan AO is very distinct geologically. It is a remnant of the Zhe-Min Island Arc which developed in the early Cambrian, ca 600 million years ago, and became the Zhe-Min Oldland of the Permian, ca 230 million years ago. Nan AO was submerged around the Triassic-Jurassic boundary, ca 195 million years ago, but has been above water since the early Jurassic (Wang 1985), unlike the adjacent mainland, which has been repeatedly inundated, as recently as 100 thousand years ago. Nan Ao's geological history does not, however, mean a distinctive species should be confined to that Island. It is on the continental shelf, and was united with the mainland by glacial sea level lowering a mere ten thousand years ago.
As noted by Nowak (1991), the genus "Suncus" is probably invalid, a junior synonym of Crocidura - the largest genus of mammals. The tooth character that separates our species - presence or absence of the "fourth" upper unicuspid - is compromised by variation in species of Crocidura outside of China. In our species there may be two or three larger unicuspids, so the "fourth" might only appear to be number three.
Sorting out South China's shrews would, I believe, make an excellent dissertation topic for the enterprising field biologist. Initially, one would have to build up collections and elucidate distribution. These shrews, despite their probable and often apparent abundance, remain extremely little-known. For example, there appear to have been no specimen records for Crocidura attenuata on great Lantau - Tai Yue Shan - until 1996 when Dr. Ron Pine collected some for the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. All three of these shrews, and perhaps others, may occur throughout South China, and one or more may occur on any of the hundreds of islands along this coast. We should find out.
Skip Lazell
Allen, G.M. (1938). The Mammals of China and Mongolia Volume 1. American Museum of Natural History, New York.
Dudgeon, D., and R. Corlett (1994) Hills and Streams: an Ecology of Hong Kong. Hong Kong University Press.
Hill, D.S. and K. Phillips (1981). A Colour Guide to Hong Kong Animals. Government Printer, Hong Kong.
Marshall, P. (1967). Wild Mammals of Hong Kong. Oxford University Press, Hong Kong.
Nowak, R.M. (1991). Walker's Mammals of the World. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Maryland.
Wang, H. (1985) Atlas of the Palaeogeography of China. Cartographic Publishing House, Beijing.
P.18-19
Back to Contents
Back to Porcupine Homepage
Go to Department Homepage