The Sulawesi white-handed shrew or Temboan shrew (''Crocidura rhoditis'') is a 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 island of

Sulawesi Sulawesi (), also known as Celebes (), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the world's eleventh-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Mindanao and the Sulu Ar ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. It is a fairly common species and the population seems stable so the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

has assessed its conservation status as being of "

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

Taxonomy

The Sulawesi white-handed shrew was first described in 1921 by the American zoologists

Gerrit Smith Miller Jr. Gerrit Smith Miller Jr. (December 6, 1869 – February 24, 1956), was an American zoologist and botanist. He was born in Peterboro, New York, in 1869. His great-grandfather was Gerrit Smith, the wealthy abolitionist, businessman, and politic ...

and Hollister as ''Crocidura rhoditis''. The type locality is Temboan in North Sulawesi. ''Crocidura rhoditis'' is part of an assemblage of shrews endemic to northern and central Sulawesi which also includes the Sulawesi shrew (''Crocidura lea''), the black-footed shrew (''Crocidura nigripes''), the elongated shrew (''Crocidura elongata'') and the

mossy forest shrew The mossy forest shrew (''Crocidura musseri'') is a species of shrew native to Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of ov ...

(''Crocidura musseri''). Deep genetic divergences have been detected within ''Crocidura rhoditis'', suggesting the existence of potential cryptic diversity in this species Arlo Hinckley, Miguel Camacho-Sanchez, Manuel Ruedi, Melissa T R Hawkins, Madeleine Mullon, Anna Cornellas, Fred Tuh Yit Yuh, Jennifer A Leonard, Evolutionary history of Sundaland shrews (Eulipotyphla: Soricidae: Crocidura) with a focus on Borneo, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2021;, zlab045, https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlab045

Description

The Sulawesi white-handed shrew is a small species of white-toothed shrew; it lacks the deposits of iron in the enamel of the teeth which is seen in the red-toothed shrews. The dorsal pelage is short and velvety, being greyish-brown or reddish-brown and the underside is paler. The ears are prominent, the legs are short, the feet are white, and the tail is long and clad with a few long well-scattered hairs.

Distribution and habitat

The Sulawesi white-handed shrew is endemic to the Indonesian island of Sulawesi where it is found in the northern, central and southwestern parts of the island. Its typical habitat is primary tropical lowland or montane forests, but it seems able to survive in secondary forests as well. The extent to which it can adapt to degraded habitats is unclear.

Behaviour

Very little is known of its natural history and behaviour of the Sulawesi white-handed shrew. Like other members of its family it lives among the leaf litter and is insectivorous and is likely to eat insects and small arthropods.

Status

The Sulawesi white-handed shrew is fairly common in some locations and is regularly caught in pitfall traps. The population trend appears to be steady and no particular threats to this species have been recognised although it is likely to be adversely affected by forest clearance. It has a wide range and is believed to be present in several protected areas, and the

has assessed its conservation status as being of "

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1768007 Crocidura Endemic fauna of Indonesia Mammals of Sulawesi Taxa named by Ned Hollister Taxa named by Gerrit Smith Miller Jr. Mammals described in 1921 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot