189.

Jungle Shrew

Suncus zeylanicus

French: Pachyure du Sri Lanka / German: Ceylon-Moschusspitzmaus / Spanish: Musarana de jungla

Other common names: Ceylon Jungle Shrew, Sri Lankan Shrew

Taxonomy. Suncus zeylanicus W. W. A. Phillips, 1928,

“ Gonagamma Estate, Kitulgala, in the south western foothills of the cen- tral mountain cluster, Ceylon [= Sri Lan- ka], 900 feet [= 275 m].”

Suncus zeylanicus is known from only a few specimens and is sympatric with S. murinus and S. montanus. Despite similarities in size and skull morphology to S. montanus, S. Meegaskumbura and colleagues in 2010 considered it distinct. Subsequent study of

hair anatomy by U. Menike and colleagues in 2012 revealed that the two species are clearly distinguishable. Monotypic.

Distribution. Recorded from the type locality and two other localities in Sabaragamuwa Province, in Central Province, and an unconfirmed record from Western Province, Sri Lanka.

Descriptive notes. Head—body 114 mm and 108 mm, tail 97 mm and 92 mm, ear 13 mm and 10 mm, hindfoot 20 mm and 20 mm (measurements from the type specimen and one other specimen). No specific data are available for body weight. The Jungle Shrew is medium-sized, with short, soft pelage, being dark steely gray dorsally and slightly lighter ventrally; individual hairs are darker at bases and lighter at tips. Tail is 85% of head-body length, being gray dorsally and lighter ventrally, with long bristle hairs scattered overits entire length and short hairs more numerous toward tip.

Habitat. Rainforests with low undergrowth on hills at elevations of 150-1068 m.

Food and Feeding. Stomach contents of the type specimen contained Coleoptera.

Breeding. No information.

Activity patterns. Jungle Shrews are assumed to be nocturnal and crepuscular but might be active intermittently day and night.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. The Ceylon pit viper (Trimeresurus trigonocephalus) is a known predator of the Jungle Shrew.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Endangered on The IUCN Red List. The Jungle Shrew occupies less than 500 km?, its distribution is severely fragmented, and extent of its forest habitat is continuing to decline. Meegaskumbura and colleagues in 2010 failed to catch any Jungle Shrews during intensive trapping at the type locality of Kitugala and in Sinharaja rainforest, in contrast to success catching other species of Suncus.

Bibliography. Corbet & Hill (1992), Goonatilake et al. (2008b), Meegaskumbura et al. (2010), Menike et al. (2012), Molur et al. (2005), Phillips (1928, 1980), Wijesinghe & Brooke (2005), Yapa & Ratnavira (2013).