Crocidura hikmiya
| Crocidura hikmiya | |
|---|---|
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Soricomorpha |
| Family: | Soricidae |
| Genus: | Crocidura |
| Species: | C. hikmiya |
| Binomial name | |
| Crocidura hikmiya Meegaskumbura, Meegaskumbura, Manamendra-Arachchi, Pethiyagoda & Schneider, 2007 | |
 | |
| Crocidura hikmiya range | |
The Sinharaja shrew or Sri Lankan rain forest shrew, Crocidura hikmiya, is a species of shrew described from the rainforests of Sri Lanka, based on both morphological and molecular data. Its closest sister species is the Sri Lankan long-tailed shrew, another Sri Lankan crocidurine shrew restricted to the high-elevation habitats of the Central Highlands. C. hikmiya has a shorter tail than the Sri Lankan long-tailed shrew; most of the other characteristics that distinguish the two species are osteological in nature .[2]
Etymology
The specific epithet hikmiya is Sinhala for ‘shrew’, applied here as a substantive in apposition. It is known as ශ්රී ලංකා සිංහරාජ කුනු හික් මීයා in Sinhala.
Difference from C. miya
Morphologically, C. hikmiya is distinguished from C. miya by having a shorter tail, condyles protruding beyond the margin of the braincase, a posterior edge of the maxillary bone rounded, an occipital bone triangle-shaped with an obtuse angle and slightly flattened on the back, a foramen magnum less deep, a dorsal posterior brain case not smooth, and an angular process of dentary short and stout. Phylogenetic analysis suggests C. hikmiya is the sister species of C. miya. The uncorrected genetic distance between the two species for the mitochondrial cytochrome-b gene fragment is 9.7–10.1%, suggesting species-level divergence.
Habitat
C. hikmiya is confined to the mid-montane forests and lowland rainforests in the southwestern Sri Lanka, while C. miya is confined to montane forests of the central hills. It is known only from two forest-edge sites in Sinharaja Forest Reserve, at Kudawa and Morningside.
References
- ↑ S. Meegaskumbura & M. Meegaskumbura (2008). Crocidura hikmiya. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Retrieved January 31, 2010.
- ↑ S. H. Meegaskumbura, M. Meegaskumbura, K. Manamendra-Arachchi, R. Pethiyagoda & C. J. Schneider (2007). "Crocidura hikmiya, a new shrew (Mammalia: Soricomorpha: Soricidae) from Sri Lanka". Zootaxa 1665: 19–30.