155.

Bailey's Brown-toothed Shrew

Episoriculus baileyi

French: Musaraigne de Bailey / German: Bailey-Braunzahnspitzmaus / Spanish: Musarana de dientes marrones de Bailey

Other common names: Bailey's Long-tailed Shrew

Taxonomy. Soriculus baileyi Thomas, 1914,

“ Tsu River. Alt. 7,500’ [= 2286 m].”

Sovereignty over the borderland between China (South Tibet) and India (Arunachal Pradesh, formerly North East Frontier Agency) has been disputed since the early 1990s. The type locality “Tsu River,” located in this area, did not reflect this ongoing controversy. Episoriculus baileyi was considered a subspecies of E. leucops until recently. Taxonomic relationship between these

two taxa remains suspicious. Distributional boundary between E. baileyi and E. leucops is not clear because they were considered conspecific until recently. Population from Yunnan, China, was assigned to baileyi but are indeed E. leucops. Monotypic.

Distribution. SW China (S Tibet [= Xizang]), NE India, N Myanmar, and N Vietnam.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 63-81 mm, tail 60-76 mm, ear 7-10 mm, hindfoot 13-14-5 mm. No specific data are available for body weight. Condylo-incisive lengths are 19-20-6 mm, and tooth rows are 8-1-9-3 mm. Bailey's Brown-toothed Shrew is large. Tail is 85-100% of head-body length and covered with short hair along its entire length. Dorsum is dark brown or dark slay-gray, washed blackish, and venter is light brown. Tympanic rings are large. Ascending ramus of mandible is high. I' is highly developed and robust. It has four upper unicuspids. Upper unicuspids are crowded with developed cingula, extend more longitudinally and less transversely, and are longer than in the other species of Episoriculus. First upper unicuspid is low and only slightly higher than talon (posterior cusp) of upper incisor.

Habitat. Montane forested habitats at elevations of 1567-2682 m.

Food and Feeding. Bailey's Brown-toothed Shrew is insectivorous.

Breeding. No information.

Activity patterns. Bailey's Brown-toothed Shrew is terrestrial and expected to move on the ground.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Not assessed on The IUCN Red List. Bailey’s Brown-toothed Shrew was considered conspecific with the Long-tailed Brown-toothed Shrew (E. leucops) that is classified as Least Concern. Distribution of Bailey's Brown-toothed Shrew is large, and those in northern India and Tibetan Plateau are probably well protected. Population in northern Myanmar (= Burma) might be threatened by deforestation.

Bibliography. Hoffmann (1985), Motokawa & Lin Liangkong (2005), Smith & Yan Xie (2008).