46.

Mexican Large-toothed Shrew

Sorex macrodon

French: Musaraigne a grandes dents / German: Mexikanische GroRzahn-Spitzmaus / Spanish: Musarana de dientes grandes de México

Other common names: Large-toothed Shrew

Taxonomy. Sorex macrodon Merriam, 1895,

“ Orizaba, Vera Cruz, Mexico (altitude, 4,200 feet [= 1280 m]).” Restricted by L. N. Carraway in 2007 to “latitude 18-85°N, longitude 97-08°W.”

Sorex macrodon is closely related to S. veraecrucis and the S. veraecrucis group, which is included in an unnamed subgenus of Sorex. Monotypic.

Distribution. NE Puebla, CW Veracruz, and N Oaxaca, EC Mexico.

Descriptive notes. Head—body 79-84 mm, tail 49-52 mm, ear 5—7 mm, hindfoot 14-15-5 mm; weight 9-8-11-3 g. The Mexican Large-toothed Shrew is relatively large, similar in size to the somewhat larger Ibarra’s Shrew (S. ibarrai). Dorsum is very dark brown, and venter is slightly paler. Tail is ¢.60% of head-body length and uniformly dark brown. Skull is massive compared with related species, and nostrils and face are wide. I, has three denticles, pigmentation in one section, and deep interdentiular space. Teeth are pigmented dark red. There are five unicuspids, first and second are largest, third is usually smaller than fourth, and fifth is very small.

Habitat. Montane cloud forests dominated by pine and oak at elevations of 1200-2600 m.

Food and Feeding. Diet of the Mexican Large-toothed Shrew probably consists of small invertebrates and vertebrate carrion.

Breeding. A lactating Mexican Large-toothed Shrew was captured in April.

Activity patterns. No information.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Vulnerable on The IUCN Red List. Extent of occurrence of the Mexican Large-toothed Shrew is less than 20,000 km?®. It is known from fewer than ten locations and is threatened by habitat loss due to deforestation from agricultural and urban expansion.

Bibliography. Avila (2014b), Carraway (2007), Castro-Arellano, de Grammont et al. (2008), Esteva et al. (2010).