-* Fauna : Mammals 



The Insectivora are represented in Liberia by four species 

 of Shrew, three belonging to the genus Crocidura. The two 

 species of Crocidura are apparently peculiar to Liberia ; at any 

 rate, they have not as yet been recorded in any other part of 

 West Africa. They were discovered by Dr. Biittikofer, after 

 whom and his companion Stampfli they have been named. The 

 Crocidura are smallish, shrew-like animals, larger than the true 

 shrews, the size of house mice or small rats. They have a 

 more or less strong smell of musk, which betrays their recent 

 presence by lingering on the objects they have touched. Their 

 teeth are completely white, and not tipped with orange or brown 

 as in the true shrews. The tail is armed by a fringe of stiff 

 hairs. 



It is probable that there are one or more representatives 

 of the genus Sylvisorex in Liberia, as in other parts of West 

 Africa, but they have not yet been discovered. One shrew of 

 this genus is the smallest or very nearly the smallest mammal 

 in the world, and the specimen which the present writer collected 

 Sylvisorex johnstoni was picked up by him in mistake for a 

 beetle, its tail being curled under the body. There is also in 

 all probability a species of hedgehog, Erinaceus diadematus^ with 

 long spines on the forehead, or E. albiventris, with a white- 

 haired stomach and only four toes on the foot. 



The Rodents are well represented. First may be mentioned 

 representatives of that remarkable family of the Squirrel section, 

 the Anomalurid<e. These are usually termed " flying squirrels " 

 and in a sense they are distantly related to the squirrels, and 

 have developed expansions of the skin along the sides of the 

 body and upper part of the limbs, so this designation is not as 

 inaccurate as it might be. But they form a peculiar African 

 family of rodents, quite distinct from, though perhaps allied 

 to, the squirrels. They have no special connection with the 



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