West African pygmy shrew

West African pygmy shrew
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Eulipotyphla
Family: Soricidae
Genus: Crocidura
Species:
C. obscurior
Binomial name
Crocidura obscurior
Balsac, 1958
West African pygmy shrew range

The West African pygmy shrew or obscure white-toothed shrew (Crocidura obscurior) is a species of mammal in the family Soricidae. It is found in Ivory Coast, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.[2]

The Ivory Coast white-toothed shrew (C. eburnea), which is sympatric with C. obscurior in Ivory Coast, Liberia & Guinea, and closely resembles it aside from having a longer skull, was considered conspecific with C. obscurior until a 2014 study delineated both as being genetically distinct sister species to one another.[3]

  1. ^ Nicolas, V.; Dando, T.; Kennerley, R. (2018) [errata version of 2017 assessment]. "Crocidura obscurior". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017: e.T111754705A123795806. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T111754705A111754743.en. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  2. ^ "Explore the Database". www.mammaldiversity.org. Retrieved 2022-03-10.
  3. ^ Jacquet, François; Nicolas, Violaine; Colyn, Marc; Kadjo, Blaise; Hutterer, Rainer; Decher, Jan; Akpatou, Bertin; Cruaud, Corinne; Denys, Christiane (2014). "Forest refugia and riverine barriers promote diversification in the West African pygmy shrew (Crocidura obscurior complex, Soricomorpha)". Zoologica Scripta. 43 (2): 131–148. doi:10.1111/zsc.12039.