Crowned shrew

The crowned Shrew or Musaraigne of Millet ( Sorex coronatus Millet, 1828) was not really distinguished from the Musaraigne sail needle ( Sorex araneus ) only in 1978, that is to say 150 years after its description.

Description

This species is a little smaller than the Musaraigne sail needle ( Sorex araneus ), which is related for him and which is by its appearance difficult to distinguish, since head and bodies measure 5,6 to 7,7 cm (instead of 5,6 to 8,5 cm), tail 3 to 4,5 cm (instead of 3,2 to 5,6 cm) and the posterior foot 11 to 12,5 mm (instead of 12 to 14 mm). They well are differentiated, however, according to the base of cranium. On the island of Jersey it is on the contrary larger than the shrews sail needles of England. The animal weighs between 6,5 and 11,5 grams. The crowned shrews, just like soricinés others, teeth and molars with orange points. The fur on the back is brown dark, and clear on the belly. On the sides of the body, one clearly sees the transition between the two colors as at the two-tone Musaraigne.

Distribution

The crowned Shrew people west of Northern Europe of Spain in Switzerland and the south-west of Germany, while passing by France and the Benelux countries. It seems to progress towards the east and to push back the Shrew sail needle in extreme cases western of its surface of distribution.

In France, it is absent from Mediterranean region, of Corsica, mountains and the North-East. In plain, the shrews identified hitherto as shrews sail needles are actually crowned shrews, the most frequent species of Soricidae in this country.

Random links: