156.

Long-tailed Brown-toothed Shrew

Episoriculus leucops

French: Musaraigne du Népal / German: Langschwanz-Braunzahnspitzmaus / Spanish: Musarana de dientes marrones de cola larga

Taxonomy. Sorex leucops Horsfield, 1855,

Nepal.

Episoriculus leucops used to include E. bai- ley: as a subspecies, whichis recognized as distinct species. Species boundary of these two taxa still needs to be tested. Population from south-western China was assigned to baileyi previously but is identified as E. leucops based on morphological and molecular evidence. Monotypic.

Distribution. SW China (S Tibet [= Xizang| and W Yunnan) and Nepal; it might occur in SW Sichuan.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 53-76 mm, tail 58-82-5 mm, hindfoot 12-17 mm. No specific data are available for body weight. Condylo-incisive lengths are 19-1-20 mm, and tooth rows are 8-:2-8-6 mm. The Long-tailed Brown-toothed Shrew is the largest species of Episoriculus. Its entire body is covered with uniform dark brown hair. Tail length is similar to head-body length. Braincase is dome-shaped and high. It is very similar to Bailey’s Brown-toothed Shrew (E. baileyi), with smaller upper incisors and smaller tympanic ring. It has four upper unicuspids. First upper unicuspid is high and obviously higher than talon (posterior cusp) of I'.

Habitat. Broad-leaved evergreen forests, rhododendron forests, and moist conifer forest at elevations of 1800-3500 m.

Food and Feeding. The Long-tailed Brown-toothed Shrew is insectivorous. It was reported to eat earthworms.

Breeding. No information.

Activity patterns. Most Long-tailed Brown-toothed Shrews were trapped at night. Based on its external morphology, it was inferred to be semi-fossorial and semi-arboreal, but this has not been confirmed.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. Distribution of the Long-tailed Brown-toothed Shrew is large, and specimens have been recorded from many conservation areas. Overall population is unlikely to be declining.

Bibliography. Hoffmann (1985), Motokawa & Lin Liangkong (2005).