A new shrew from Switzerland

VOL. XIV, PP.

95-96 JUNE

27, 1901

.

PROCEEDINGS

OF THE

BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

A NEW SHREW FROM SWITZERLAND.*

BY GERRIT

S.

MILLER,

^Jn.

Among ^{some shrews from} Switzerland

_recently

purchased by

the

United

States

National Museum

^is a strikingly character ized species of

Orocidnra

to

which none

of the

names based on members

^{of the}

genus can be

applied. ^It

may ^be

^called:

Crocidura mimula

_sp. nov.

Type. Adult female _(skin and skull) No. _105,801, United States

Na

tional

Museum.

Collected at Ziiberwangen, ^St. Gallen, Switzerland,

December

1, 1900, by Ernst H.Zollikofer. Originalnumber, ^192.

Characters.

Form,

dentition,

and

_generalap pearance ^{as in} Crocidura russula, but size con spicuously^less (hind ^foot only ¹² (11), greatest length^of skull16 insteadof 19-21).

Color. Entire dorsal surface sepia, faintly darker over

lumbar

_region, the hairs showing bright silvery reflections

when

held in certain

~ lights. Underparts ^dull ochraceous-buff, not h^sba/

V _{^^W_^}

sharply contrasted with color of sides.

Chin

FIG. i.-o. Crocidura whitish-

The

^basesof the hairs areeverywhere

russuia, ^{b. c.} mimula blackishslate, butthiscolor does not appear^at (natural^size). surface except irregularly

and

indistinctly on belly. Feet yellowish white. Tail ochraceous- buff, ^itsuppersurface tinged with_sepia.

*Published here by permission ^of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution.

15-BioL. Soc.

WASH.

VOL. XIV,^1901. (95)

{)($ Miller

A New

tfhretr

from

Switzerland.

Skull

and

teeth.

Although

scarcelylarger than thatof tfurexminutux, the skullof Crocidura

mimula

retainsthe general form characteristic of C. ruxsula.

The

rostral portion,however,^isrelatively shorterand wider thanin the larger animal. Inthe typespecimenthe antorbitalforamina are larger

and more

conspicuous, particularly

when

the skull isviewed from above, than in any ^{of the} specimens ^{of C. ruszula} with

which

I

have

compared

^it.

Teethas in Crccidura_{ruxxula, except} fortheirnoticeably smaller^size.

Measurements. External

measurements

of type: ^total length, 105;

head

and

_body, 72: tailvertebrae, 38; hind foot, 12_(11).

Cranial

measurements

of type: greatest length (exclusiveof incisors), 16 _(21);* greatest postorbital breadth, ^7.8 (10); greatest antorbital breadth, ^o.G (7); least interorbitalbreadth, ^3.8 (4.4): mandible, ^8.4 (11):

entire maxillarytoothrow, 7.4 _(9.4); entiremandibulartoothrow, ^0.8(9).

/Specimen examined.

One

the _type.

Remarks. Crocidura

mimula

_requires no _special comparison with ^C.

rus.mla, asitssizeandthe form of its skull serve to distinguish ^{it at}a glance.

*Measurements

inparenthesis are those^oftheskull ofanadultfemale Crocidura rusxula from St.Gallen.