The Ugandan musk shrew (''Crocidura mutesae'') is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

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 found in

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

, the

Democratic Republic of Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

and the

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR; ; , RCA; , or , ) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to the north, Sudan to the northeast, South Sudan to the southeast, the DR Congo to the south, the Republic of th ...

. Its range, population size and habits are poorly known.

Description

This is a large shrew growing to a head-and-body length of about with a tail of . The pelage is long, both dorsal and ventral fur being greyish, while the legs are darker grey. The tail is thick and densely-haired, dark grey, with bristles long and a

pilosity Body hair, or androgenic hair, is the terminal hair that develops on the human body during and after puberty. It is differentiated from the head hair and less visible vellus hair, which is much finer and lighter in color. The growth of androge ...

of 70 to 80%. The hind feet are both long and broad. This species resembles the

African giant shrew The African giant shrew (''Crocidura olivieri'') is a species of white-toothed shrew. It also is known as, Mann's musk shrew, Euchareena's musk shrew, or Olivier's shrew. It is native to Africa, where it has a widespread distribution and occurs i ...

(''Crocidura olivieri''), but is slightly smaller, with a smaller, less robust skull.

Distribution and habitat

The Ugandan musk shrew has a disjoint distribution, having been found in Uganda, where the type locality is

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and Ruba ...

, in Tandala in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and in the Dzanga-Sangha Special Reserve and Batouri in the Central African Republic. It is present in both primary and secondary forest, as well as in single species '' Gilbertiodendron dewevrei'' forest. This shrew seems to favour fairly open areas with little undergrowth.

Status

This shrew is poorly known and its precise range, natural history and the threats it faces are unknown. In a mixed forest in Salo, in the Central African Republic, it formed about one third of all shrews caught in

pitfall trap A pitfall trap is a trapping pit for small animals, such as insects, amphibians and reptiles. Pitfall traps are a sampling technique, mainly used for ecology studies and ecologic pest control. Animals that enter a pitfall trap are unable to esca ...

s, and in the Dzanga-Sangha Special Reserve, it was identified in 2.3% of scats left by small carnivores. Because it has insufficient evidence of its abundance and population size, 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 "

data deficient A data deficient (DD) species is one which has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as offering insufficient information for a proper assessment of conservation status to be made. This does not necessaril ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1765996 Crocidura Mammals of the Central African Republic Mammals of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Mammals of Uganda Mammals described in 1910 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxa named by Edmund Heller