The species of musk shrew (qú) recently discovered by researchers in the Huangshan Scenic Area of Anhui Province has been confirmed by research as two new species of mammals.
The "Huangshan Scenic Area Wildlife Observation Cooperation Project", which is jointly carried out by the Landscape and Forestry Bureau of the Huangshan Scenic Area Management Committee, the Nanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, and Anhui University, has recently made significant progress in the classification of musk shrews.
Huangshan small musk shrew Zhang Baowei photo
Through comprehensive morphology and phylogeny, the project team analyzed and confirmed that the musk shrew species collected in the Monkey Valley of Fuxi in the Huangshan Scenic Area were two new mammal species, named "Crociduraanhuiensis" and "Crocidurahuangshanensis" respectively.
The research results were published in the English edition of the Journal of Animal Taxonomy, ZoologicalSystematics, No. 4, 2019 and No. 1, 2020, sponsored by the Institute of Zoology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and other units.
According to the researchers, the musk shrew is a genus of musk shrews in the family Pate of the order Lauya, which is distributed in Asia, Europe and Africa, and most species are concentrated in tropical and subtropical regions, inhabiting forests, plains, hills and mountains, feeding mainly on soil insects, and also eating the flowers, fruits and seeds of some plants. The musk shrew is shaped like a mouse and has three types: large, medium and small.
Anhui musk shrew: small eyes; round ears; back fur gray-brown black, abdomen lighter than the back; tail and fur color is similar, the length is only 76% of the length of the head, the tail is nearly half exposed, nearly half with sparse short bristles, close to the tail fur gradually shortened, the tail tip has a prominent brush-like hair bundle; the limbs are semi-naked, pink, and the ankle joint is sparse and short hair. The skull is long and narrow, the first pair of frontal front teeth are developed, and the herringbone ridge is more pronounced. The samples (6) weighed 10.52-13.51 g, the head body length was 60.88-78.10 mm, the tail length was 48.34-59.24 mm, the forefoot length was 9.20-9.87, the posterior foot length was 13.52-14.83 mm, the ear length was 7.74-9.24 mm, and the total cranial length was 20.81-22.38 mm.
Huangshan musk shrew: small head; long nose; whiskers to the bottom of the ears; small eyes; round ears, obvious bottom hair on the ear shell; gray-brown fur, slightly dark back; slender limbs, front and back feet with five fingers (toes), small and fleshy protrusions on the feet, pink fingers and toes, semi-naked, sparse brown hairs on the ankles; tail length of about 76% of the length of the head, similar in color to fur, almost bare, with a very small amount of bristles. The skull is long and flat, without zygomatic arches, the first pair of frontal frontal teeth are curved and developed, and the herringbone ridge is obvious. The specimens (5) weighed 4.35-7.77 g, the head and body length were 50.45-61.97 mm, the tail length was 39.64-45.03 mm, the forefoot length was 6.99-8.33 mm, the posterior foot length was 11.84-13.82 mm, the ear length was 7.86-8.70 mm, and the total cranial length was 16.88-17.90 mm.
Researchers believe that the two new species found in the Huangshan Mountain Scenic Area belong to the medium-sized musk shrew. The discovery of two new species, the Anhui musk shrew and the Huangshan small musk shrew, has further enriched the biodiversity of mammals, especially mammals, in the Huangshan Scenic Area, and filled the gap in the research of the genus Musk Shrew in the scenic area.
In this regard, netizens are hotly discussed:
Source: China Youth Daily