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credit: Alexei V. Abramov,
Russian Academy of Scientists |
A new species of shrew
(Crocidura sapaensis) has been located and described by scientists in the forests of Vietnam. The-white toothed is genetically different from three other closely-related shrews found in Vietnam. Shrews are unique for several reasons. They are the smallest non-flying mammals in the world, and the only mammal to possess venom.
Crocidura is the largest of any mammal genus. Shrews are omnivores, feeding on seeds, fruit and invertebrates. They were small mammals similar to shrews that survived the Cretaceous extermination event. Vietnam had one of the highest deforestation rates in the world from the 60's to the early 1990s, but the forest canopy has come back in some areas as the result of reforestation programs and commercial tree plantations. However, old-growth forest continues to decline rapidly. The loss of habitat has put many of Vietnam's larger mammals at risk. The study of the newly discovered shrew was published in
ZooKeys, July 2nd.
