Wikipedia

Small-eared shrew

Also found in: Dictionary.
(redirected from Cryptotis)
Small-eared shrews[1]
Temporal range: Late Miocene to Recent
Exhibit Museum of Natural History, Ann Arbor - IMG 9033.JPG
North American least shrew (Cryptotis parva)
Scientific classification e
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Eulipotyphla
Family: Soricidae
Subfamily: Soricinae
Tribe: Blarinini
Genus: Cryptotis
Pomel, 1848
Species

See text

The genus Cryptotis is a group of relatively small shrews with short ears, which are usually not visible, and short tails, commonly called small-eared shrews. They have 30 teeth and are members of the red-toothed shrew subfamily. Since 1992, Neal Woodman (in cooperation with Robert Timm) at the United States National Museum has been in the process of revising the genus. To date, this has resulted in an increase in the number of species from 12 to 30.

Members of the genus are found mainly in Central America; the North American least shrew, C. parva, is the only species found north of Mexico. The genus occurs as far south as northern Peru and as far east as western Venezuela in South America. It is the only soricomorph genus found south of Guatemala. The limited diversity and restricted northern distribution of shrews in South America implies that the group invaded the continent relatively recently from Central America, where they are more diverse, presumably as part of the Great American Interchange. However, shrews have no fossil record in South America that would allow their arrival to be dated.

List of species

References

  1. ^ a b Hutterer, R. (2005). "Genus Cryptotis". In Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 270–274. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
  2. ^ "Cryptotis". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved October 6, 2007.
  3. ^ a b Woodman, Neal (June 2010). "Two new species of shrews (Soricidae) from the western highlands of Guatemala". Journal of Mammalogy. American Society of Mammalogists. 91 (3): 566–579. doi:10.1644/09-MAMM-A-346.1.

External links

This article is copied from an article on Wikipedia® - the free encyclopedia created and edited by its online user community. The text was not checked or edited by anyone on our staff. Although the vast majority of Wikipedia® encyclopedia articles provide accurate and timely information, please do not assume the accuracy of any particular article. This article is distributed under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License.

Copyright © 2003-2025 Farlex, Inc Disclaimer
All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only. This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional.