397. Savanna Path White-toothed Shrew Crocidura viaria French: Crocidure des chemins / German: GroRRe Savannen-WeiRRzahnspitzmaus / Spanish: Musarana de sendero de sabana Other common names: Savanna Path Shrew Taxonomy. Sorex viarius I. Geoffroy Saint- Hilaire, 1834, “Senegal.” Restricted by R. Hutterer in 1984 to the region between Dakar and Saint-Louis (= Dakar), Senegal. Crocidura viania is sister to C. fulvastra and in the C. olivier: group. Monotypic. Distribution. From S Morocco and extreme W Algeria S to Guinea and E to Ethiopia and Kenya; also on Unguja I in Zanzibar Archipelago (where it might be extinct) along with isolated records from N Ethiopia and C Tanzania. Descriptive notes. Head-body 75-100 mm, tail 42-63 mm, hindfoot 14-17 mm. No specific data are available for body weight. The Savanna Path White-toothed Shrew is large, with dense, soft, and silky sheened pelage. Dorsum is pale medium brown, with mottled appearance (hairs are dark gray on basal one-half and pale brown on terminal one-half, with medium brown tips). Venter is medium reddish brown or creamy gray (hairs are gray on basal two-thirds and creamy gray on terminal one-third). Ears are pale brown and conspicuous. Chin, throat, and chest are medium reddish brown, and feet are pale and covered with short creamy hairs. Tail is ¢.70% of head-body length, medium brown dorsally, slightly plater below, thick at base becoming narrower toward tip, and hairy with longer bristle hairs throughout. Braincase is flat and broad; I' is long and hooked; M? is medium to wide in size. There are three unicuspids. Chromosomal complement has 2n = 50 and FN = 66. Habitat. Dense scrubby vegetation beside seasonal rivers and cultivated fields in Morocco. Savanna Path White-toothed Shrews are found in vegetated sand dunes and on dunes with thick Chenopodiastrum murale (Amaranthaceae) or euphorbes (Euphorbiaceae) around boulders. They seem to prefer dry habitats and cluster around wetter areas. Food and Feeding. No information. Breeding. No information. Activity patterns. The Savanna Path White-toothed Shrew is strictly nocturnal and will use abandoned rodent burrows for shelter. Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information. Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. The Savanna Path White-toothed Shrew has a wide distribution and is extremely common in some parts ofits distribution. There are no major threats currently affecting it. Bibliography. Cassola (2016bc), Dubey, Antonin et al. (2007), Jacquet, Denys et al. (2015), Jacquet, Hutterer et al. (2013), Hutterer (2013x), Vogel, Lawrence & Aghnaj (2000), Vogel, Vogel et al. (2013), Yalden et al. (1996).

Published as part of Russell A. Mittermeier & Don E. Wilson, 2018, Soricidae, pp. 332-551 in Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 8 Insectivores, Sloths and Colugos, Barcelona :Lynx Edicions on page 534, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6870843