UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN BIOLOGY JUL 1 1 15ov /^^'^^-'^-I.^^p-^ PIELDIANA Zoology Published by Field Museum of Natural History olume 58, No. 2 Decmber 30, 1970 Shrews of the Crocidura zarudnyi-pergrisea Group with Descriptions of a New Subspecies Jerry D. Hassinger Street Fellow 1965 to 1966' Division of Mammals Field Museum of Natural History The pale gray shrew, Crocidura pergrisea, is arousing taxonomic nterest as new specimens of it are announced (Lay, 1967, p. 129). rhat interest warrants preliminary publication of the present ac- ount of C. zarudnyi which Ellerman and Morrison-Scott (1951, ). 83) regarded but a subspecies of C. pergrisea. A complete report in the mammals (except bats) of Afghanistan is in preparation as a ontribution from the 1965 W. S. and J. K. Street Expedition to Afghanistan, and I have already published an account of the field ^ork and descriptions of the country where the mammal collections v^ere made (Hassinger, 1968). Ellerman and Morrison Scott (1951, pp. 72, 83) treats C. arudnyi as a subspecies of C. pergrisea saying: "we have not seen )ergrisea, but from descriptions it is very like the Baluchistan form, arudnyi, which it antedates." I have before me for direct com- )arison both paratypical specimens of C. pergrisea, the three speci- nents of the "C. p. zarudnyi" seen by Ellerman, a specimen from ^yallpur, W. Pakistan, six C. zarudnyi (recorded as pergrisea) collected by an earlier Street Expedition (Lay, 1967) from the Sistan Basin of Iran (nearly topotypical), and four from montane habitats n Afghanistan which were collected by the 1965 Street Expedition md established the first record for the country. 1 Jan., 1965 to July, 1966; Thomas J. Dee Fellow, Aug., 1966— May, 1967. Abrary of Congress Catalog Card Number: 78-1^2973 , .. •f;,3 Liorcr; u 1^3 Publication 1117 5 ^_,. na.f.hamP- Omi r\n\J > inn on. 6 FIELDIANA: ZOOLOGY, VOLUME 58 A study of this material indicates that two species seem to be involved: Crocidura pergrisea, which seems to be restricted to Kashmir at high altitudes, and C. zarudnyi hitherto known from Baluchistan, West Pakistan, and eastern Iran, and here recorded from Afghanistan, occurring at both low and (subspecies) higher altitudes. The differences between the samples of Crocidura zarudnyi and C. pergrisea are as follows: In total length (whether obtained as tip of snout to tip of tail excluding hair, or as head-and-body length plus tail length) the means and the extremes (in millimeters) of 15 zarudnyi are 104.7 (92 to 116) compared to the 125, 128, and 129 of three pergrisea. In greatest length of skull measured from the anteriormost margins of the upper incisors to the posteriormost margin of the supraoccipital, of 11 zarudnyi are 18.1 (16.9 to 19.0) compared to 20.0 and 20.1 of two pergrisea. In greatest condylo-premaxillary length of skull 12 zarudnyi are (16.5 to 18.2) compared to 19.0, 19.1, and 19.3 of three pergrisea. In greatest cranial breadth 12 zarudnyi are 7.9 (7.5 to 8.3) compared to 8.7, 8.8, and 8.9 for three pergrisea. The length of the longest mystacial in 12 zarudnyi is 22 mm. ; whereas that in two pergrisea is 27. The longest dorsal hairs in 12 zarudnyi are 6 mm., but in two pergrisea are 8 mm. The base of the dorsal hair of C. pergrisea (collected in October) from near Shigar, Baltistan, Kashmir, 2,900 m., is Dark Mouse Grayi followed by a 1 mm. band of white and tips varying from Cinnamon Drab to Hair Brown, giving their pelage an extremely pilose, grizzled, pale grayish-brown appearance. The base of the dorsal hair of C. zarudnyi (collected in November) from Iran, montane Baluchistan and Lyallpur, 110-2,400 m., is Deep Mouse Gray (lighter than Dark Mouse Gray) followed by a narrow 0.5 mm. band of white and tips of Cinnamon Drab, giving their pelage a slightly grizzled, dull cinnamon-brown (Cinnamon Drab) ap- pearance. Four C. zarudnyi (collected in July, August, and October) from mountains in Afghanistan, 2,250-2,650 m., have dorsal hairs similar to those of pergrisea but shorter and without Cinnamon Drab tips, giving their dorsal pelage a much less pilose, less grizzled, brownish-gray appearance. ^ Capitalized color terms are from Ridgway (1912). HASSINGER: SHREWS OF CROCIDURA GROUP 7 Thus, the very small sample of Crocidura pergrisea seems to be of a substantially larger form than zarudnyi, and one that differs markedly from C. zarudnyi in October pelage. These differences seem to me to be great enough to justify recording them here as separate species. Both pergrisea in Kashmir and mountain populations of zarudnyi in Afghanistan seem to live in rocky biotopes while lowland popula- tions of zarudnyi in Iran live in clay-loess biotopes and in W. Pakistan (Taber et al., 1967, p. 395) in "xeric tropical thorn plains." So far I have treated C. zarudnyi as a single unit. But four specimens of this species taken in the mountains of Afghanistan, while falling within the diagnosis of C. zarudnyi given above, differ enough from the other specimens of the species, from West Pakistan and Iran, to merit recognition as a separate subspecies which, in honor of William S. and Janice Street, I name: Crocidura zarudnyi streetorum new subspecies Type.— FMNH No. 102123, adult female, from Afghanistan: 30 km. northwest of Ghazni, approximately 33° 43' N 68° 15' E; collected October 8, 1965 by Hassinger, from dry, rocky habitat exemplified in Hassinger (1968, Fig. 8). Diagnosis. — Differs from the typical form in the following: 1) grayer color; 2) average greater total length. The general hue of the dorsal pelage for typical zarudnyi and C. z. streetorum is, respectively: dull cinnamon-brown and brownish-gray. The average total length and extremes for four streetorum is 109 mm. (103-116); of 11 C. z. zarudnyi is 103 mm. (92-113). Description. — The type and three paratypes (FMNH 102134 to 102136) consist of skins and skulls. The body measurements (in mm.) for the type are: head and body, 58; tail, 45; hind foot, 12; ear, 8. Its skull measures: greatest length, 18.3; condylo-premaxillary length, 17.5; cranial width, 8.0. The dorsal pelage is slightly griz- zled, brownish-gray gradually changing low on the sides to white or Pale Smoke Gray ventral pelage consisting of hairs with Dark Mouse Gray bases tipped with white. Tail is Pale Smoke Gray, the proximal third being almost unicolor, the distal two thirds hav- ing a dorsal stripe of hairs resembling the dorsal pelage. The feet are Light Buff to white. Range. — Mountains of Afghanistan between 2,250 and 2,650 m. 8 FIELDIANA: ZOOLOGY, VOLUME 58 Material examined. — Crocidura pergrisea, two; USNM 175917, 175919 Kashmir: Skoro Loomba; Shigar, Baltistan. Crocidura zarudnyi zarudnyi, ten; BM 19.11.7.15, 19.11.7.16, 19.11.83, 64. 1195 West Pakistan: Panjgur, Turbat, Kelat, and Lyallpur, re- spectively. FMNH 96403 and 96409-13 Iran: Kerman (Seistan): 24 km. southwest of Zabol. Crocidura z. streetorum, fom^; FMNH 102123 and 102134-36 Afghanistan, Ishkamish, Badakhshan Natural Area; Shibar Pass, Central Natural Area; and Ghazni and Gardez of the Eastern Natural Area. REFERENCES Ellerman, J. R. and T. C. S. Morrison-Scott 1951. Checklist of Palaearctic and Indian Mammals. Brit. Mus. (Nat. Hist.) Publ., 810 pp., folding map. Hassinger, J. D. 1968. Introduction to the mammal survey of the 1965 Street Expedition to Afghanistan. Fieldiana: 7ool., 55, no. 1, 88 pp., 25 figs. Lay, D. M. 1967. A study of the mammals of Iran resulting from the Street Expedition of 1962-63. Fieldiana: Zool., 54, 282 pp., 32 figs. RiDGWAY, Robert 1912. Color standards and color nomenclature, iii + 44 pp., 53 color plates inserted, [press of] A. Hoen & Co., Baltimore. Taber, Richard D., Ahmad Nadeem Sheri, and Mustafa Safed Ahmad. 1967. Mammals of the Lyallpur region. West Pakistan. Jour. Mammal., 48, pp. 393-407. UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS URBANA 590. 5FI C001 FIELDIANA, ZOOLOGY$CHGO 55-58,61 1968-72 0112 009379840