NEW SPECIES OF CROCIDURA 



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Fig. 3 Lateral view of cranium from top of C. attenuata BM(NH) 191 1.9. 8.26, C. hilliana BM(NH) 1994. 113 and C. fuliginosa 

 BM(NH) 1933.4. 1.183. 



There have been few systematic collections of the small 

 mammal fauna in Thailand, which in consequence remains 

 comparatively little known; in particular the shrews are 

 poorly documented. Crocidura fuliginosa was recorded from 

 peninsular Thailand by Bonhote (1903), Kloss (1917) [as C. 

 aagaardii], Robinson & Kloss (1923) and Hill (1960) [prob- 

 ably referring to the same specimen as Robinson & Kloss 

 (1923)], and from Koh Samui off the east coast of peninsular 

 Thailand by Robinson & Kloss (1914) [as C. negligens]. The 

 inclusion in this taxon of two chromosomally distinct but 

 morphologically cryptic species in Malaysia was discovered 

 recently by Ruedi et at. (1990). Ruedi (in press) has 

 attempted to correlate morphological features with these 

 chromosomal forms, in order to assign specific names to 

 them, reserving the name C. fuliginosa for those specimens 

 with chromosomes 2n = 40, Fundamental Number 56 and 

 ascribing the other species, with polymorphic chromosomes 

 of 2n = 38^0, to C. malayana Robinson & Kloss, 1911. 

 Regrettably, examination of Malaysian specimens in the 

 collection of the Natural History Museum fails to confirm the 

 supposedly clearcut morphological distinction, with some 

 specimens exhibiting a mixture of the characters listed by 

 Ruedi, so negating the use of these morphological criteria. 

 Crocidura fuliginosa is a widely distributed species, occuring 

 from Burma in the west to China in the east and southwards 

 to Indonesia, including a number of named forms, whose 



taxonomic status has been the subject of considerable discus- 

 sion (Medway, 1965, 1977; Jenkins, 1976, 1982; Heaney & 

 Timm, 1983; Corbet & Hill, 1992). The presence of cryptic 

 species in Malaysia, emphasises the lack of understanding of 

 the status of C. fuliginosa, suggesting that it requires further 

 revision and might be more appropriately considered as a 

 species complex. There are few records of this species from 

 regions other than peninsular Thailand, apart from that of 

 Lekagul & McNeely (1977) from Chiengmai, or Chiang Mai, 

 northwest Thailand (as C. fuliginosa and C. dracula). Fur- 

 thermore, there are no specimens of C. fuliginosa from 

 Thailand, other than peninsular Thailand, in the collection of 

 The Natural History Museum, while in the collection of the 

 American Museum of Natural History there are single speci- 

 mens from Nakhon Nayok, Khao Yai National Park and 

 Nakhon Ratchasima, central Thailand, plus an unconfirmed 

 specimen from Umphang, western Thailand. In the current 

 survey, C. fuliginosa was identified from prey remains of the 

 carnivorous bat, Megaderma lyra E. Geoffroy, 1810 collected 

 at Thung Yai-Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary, western 

 Thailand; however there are only a few fragmentary speci- 

 mens, dubiously attributed to this species, among the owl 

 pellets from Loei Province. There are similarly few records of 

 C. attenuata from Thailand; Lekagul & McNeely (1977) listed 

 this species from Nakhon Phanom and Udon in the northeast, 

 and Chiang Mai, northwest Thailand. There was no evidence 



