The Andaman shrew or Andaman white-toothed shrew (''Crocidura andamanensis'') is a critically endangered species of
mammal
Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...
in the family
Soricidae. It is
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
to the
South Andaman Island
South Andaman Island is the southernmost island of the Great Andaman and is home to the majority of the population of the Andaman Islands.
It belongs to the South Andaman administrative district, part of the Indian union territory of Andaman and ...
of
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
. They are usually active by twilight or in the night and have specialized habitat requirements. Habitat loss due to selective logging, natural disasters such as tsunami and drastic weather change are thought to contribute to current population declines.
References
Crocidura
Endemic fauna of the Andaman Islands
Mammals of India
Critically endangered fauna of Asia
Mammals described in 1902
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot
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