A new species of Surdisorex Thomas, 1906 (Mammalia, Soricidae) from western Kenya

2009·1.1 MB·

by  Peterhans, Julian C Kerbis

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Bonnerzoologische Beiträge Band 56 Heft 3 Seiten 175-183 Bonn, September2009
A new species ofSurdisorex Thomas, 1906 (Mammalia, Soricidae)
from western Kenya
Julian Kerbis Peterhans' -, William T. Stanley-, Rainer Hutterer^,
Teirence C. Demos-* & Bernard Agwanda"^
' Roosevelt University, Chicago, U.S.A.
- Division ofMammals, Field Museum ofNatural History, Chicago, U.S.A.
3 Section ofMammals, Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig, Bonn, Germany
4Department ofBiology, The Graduate Center, City University ofNew York, New York, U.S.A.
5 Section ofMammals, National Museums ofKenya, Nairobi, Kenya
Abstract.ThegenusSurdisorexrepresentsKenya'sonlyendemicgenusofmammal. Ithasheretoforeincludedtwospecies
fromthe highlands ofcentral Kenya. Here we add a third species, also from Kenya, basedon a specimen from the eri-
caceous zone ofthe eastern slopes ofMt. Elgon. Although this species further aligns Mt. Elgon with the Kenya High-
lands,themammalfaunaofMt. Elgon illustratesamixtureoffaunaloriginsand associations.
Keywords.Surdisorex, mole shrews, endemism, fossorial mammals, Mt. Elgon.
INTRODUCTION
1.
In 1906,ThomaserectedthegenusSurdisorexforahigh- Zoology, UniversityofDares Salaamwhoassigneditthe
KMH
ly specializedburrowing shrew, without external pinnae, field number 3213. Professor Howell donated the
fromtheAberdareMountainsofcentralKenya. Tenyears speciinentothe Field MuseumofNaturalHistoryin2005.
later, a second species ofthe genus was named by Hol- The specimen was partially eviscerated with the loss of
LiSTER(1916) fromnearbyMt. Kenya. Forover 100years, internal visceraandexternal reproductive organs, butwe
the genus Surdisorex has been Kenya's only endemic do not know how or when this occurred. It was kept in
genus ofmammal. Even with the acquisition oflarge se- the Tanzanian collection, and stored in ethanol for soine
ries ofeach taxon, the two species remain readily diag- 20yearsunderthename 'Myosorexsp.'Exposureto light
nosable despite their geographic proximity. Hollister may have discolored the pelage.
(1918) stated that both species were confined to high al-
titudes(above9,000').Theiroccurrenceonmountaintops We comparedthe specimen with specimens in theAmer-
appears to account for their isolation and distinction, de- ican Museum ofNatural History (AMNH), The NaUtral
spite a geographic disjunction ofless than 50 miles. History Museum, London (BMNH), Field Museum of
Natural History,Chicago(FMNH),theNational Museum
In 1984, a specimen ofthe genus Surdisorex was picked ofNatural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington,
up on a footpath in the ericaceous zone ofthe Kenyan DC (USNM), and the Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum
slope ofMt. Elgon. We describe it as a third meinber of Alexander Koenig, Bonn (ZFMK). The following exter-
the genus Surdisorex. It is surprising that this distinctive nal measuretnents were recorded for each specimen: to-
animal had gone uncollected from this often-studied tal length (TOL; tip ofnose to end ofcaudal vertebrae),
mountain until now. headandbody length (HB; tipofnosetobaseoftail), tail
length (TL; from base oftail to end ofcaudal vertebrae),
hind foot length (HF; froin heel totipofclaw), earheight
2. MATERIALSAND METHODS (E; the longest dimension ofthe opening ofthe auditory
mm
meatus) and weight (WT). All measurements are in
Thesolerepresentativeofthenew specieswasfounddead exceptweight(grams), and generally follow DeBlase &
on the footpath by Dr. Henning Grossman at 3,150 m in Martin (1974).Thecranialanddentalvariablesmeasured
the ericaceous zone ofMt. Elgon in December, 1984 and are condylo-incisive length (CI), post-palatal length
donated to Professor Kim M. Howell, Department of (PPL), length ofentire upper toothrow (UTR), length of
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176 Julian Kerbis Peterhans etal.:Anew species ofSwdisorexThomas, 1906 fromwesternKenya
complexteeth inuppertoothrow, i.e. thedistancefromthe Table 1. External measurements (in mm) for samples ofSur-
anterior edge ofthe fourth upperpremolarto the posteri- ilisorex,givenasmean,standarddeviation,rangeandsamplesi-
or edge ofthe third upper molar (P-^-M^), distance from ze. MeasurementsofS. noraeandS.poliilustaken fromspeci-
anterioredgeoffirstupperincisortoposterioredgeofup- mens upon capture, and those ofS. schlitteri from the preser-
ved specimen.
percanine(UNICUSP),widthofthirdupperincisor(I''W),
width ofcanine (CW), lengthofthirduppermolar(M^L), External Head&body Tail length Hindfoot
widthofthird uppermolar(M^'W), least interorbital width measurement
(10),bimaxillarywidth(MX),greatestwidthofthebrain-
Swdisorexnorae 102.2±4.1 28.2 ±3.5 15.6 ± 1.2
case (GB), post-glenoid width (PGL), height ofthe cra-
95--110 21-33 14-17.5
nial capsule (HCC), length ofmandible including the in- n = 19 n = 19 n = 19
cisor (md), height ofcoronoid process on dentary (cor),
and length oflower toothrow (Itr). These variables are a Siirdisorexpoliilus 94.8 ± 3.1 28.5 ±2.3 16.5 ±0.5
subsetofthoseutilizedbyHutterer& Kock (2002), Dip- 89--100 24-31 16-17
PENAAR (1977), and Carraway (1990) and are figured in n = 11 n = 11 n= 11
Stanley et al. (2005). The infraorbital bridge was meas-
Swdisorexsehlitteri 28.6 16.1
ured at its naiTOwcst point; the structure was figured by
Meester (1963). Digital callipers were used to measure
skulls to the nearest 0.01 mm.
Principal components analysis resulted in skull length
Standarddescriptivestatistics(mean, range, and standard measurements generally having positive and moderately
deviation) were calculated for each species. One-way high loadings with the firstcomponent. Forexample, the
analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to determine variable with the highest loadingon PC 1 was the condy-
whethertherewere significantdifferences in cranial char- lo-incisive length (CI). PC 2 wasmostheavilyinfluenced
acters between sexes in each species. Principal compo- bythe length ofthe rowofupperunicuspids (lengthfrom
nents were extracted from a variance-covariance matrix firstupperincisortothecanine),whichhadpositiveload-
usingthecranial variablesconvertedtonatural logarithms. ings. Equally influential on the second component (but
All univariate and multivariate statistical analyses were with negative loadings), was the width ofthe third upper
conducted using Systat (version 1 1.00, 2004). incisor (f'W). The third component was most influenced
by the width ofthe third uppermolar, (M^W) which ex-
hibited negative values. The first three components ex-
3. RESULTS plained40.1, 22.3 and 16.1%ofthevariation, respective-
ly. Aplot ofthe specimen scores on the first two compo-
Externalmeasurements indicatethatS. polulitshasashort- nents extracted is shown in Fig. 1.
erhead and body, but longertail and hindfoot than S. no-
rae (Table Unfortunately, no external measurements
1).
were recorded from the specimen found on Mt. Elgon at
thetimeofcollection. Thetail andhindfoot measurements
takenfromthe presei-vedspecimen indicatethisspecimen
had a longer tail than either ofthe other fwo species, but
thehindfoot lengthwasintermediatebetweenS. noraeand
iS. politlus. ^
Ingeneral, the specimen from Mt. Elgon fallsbetween the
means ofS. norae and 5. poliiliis in various length meas-
SPECIES
urementsoftheskull (Table2). One-wayAnalysisofVari-
anceindicatedtherewasno sexualdimorphismincranial • norae
X polulus
characters between sexes in eitherS. noraeorS. poliiliis. +
schlitteri
The one exception was in S. norae, where the males had
a longertoothrow on the dentary than females (F = 5.14; PC 1 (40.1%)
P < 0.05). Based on the fact that this was the only char-
acterexhibitingsignificantdifferencesbetweensexes,and
thatthisdifferencewas found inonlyonespecies,thesex- Fig. 1. Plot ofthe specimen scores on the first two principal
es were combined in all other analyses. components,basedon cranial measurements.
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Bonnerzoologische Beiträge 56 177
Table 2. Comparison ofselected cranial measurements (mm) for 3 species ofSurdisore.x, given as mean, ± standard deviation,
sample size and range.
Character S. schlitteri S. norae S. polulus
(n=l)
Condylo-incisive length (CI) 25.15 25.79 ±0.37 24.68 ± 0.30
(n= 13) (n = 8)
25.24-26.75 24.35-25.06
Post-palatal length (PPL) 11.28 11.38 ± 0.24 10.99 ± 0.21
(n= 10) (n = 7)
11.05-11.86 10.59-11.25
Uppertoothrow length (UTR) 10.55 > --- 11.03 ±0.22 10.43 ± 0.20
(n=21) (n= 18)
10.55-11.48 10.01-10.75
Length ofP^-M^ (P^-M^) 6.10 6.28 ±0.15 6.02±0.14
(n= 17) (n= 15)
6.02-6.59 5.81-6.29
Lengthofupperunicuspids (UNICUSP) 4.45 4.75 ±0.13 4.40±0.14
(n=17) (n= 15)
4.53-5.02 4.13^.61
Greatestwidth ofupperP (PW) 0.72 0.71 ±0.05 0.70±0.05
(n= 17) (n= 15)
0.62-0.76 0.61-0.79
Greatestwidth ofuppercanine (CW) 0.77 0.82 ±0.04 0.78 ± 0.03
(n= 17) (n= 15)
0.72-0.87 0.72-0.84
Greatest length ofupper (M^L) 1.62 1.58 ± 0.07 1.49±0.08
(11= 17) (n= 14)
1.42-1.68 1.40-1.68
Greatestwidth ofupper (M^W) 0.87 0.87±0.05 0.84±0.05
(n= 17) (n= 15)
0.80-0.97 0.76-0.94
Interorbital width (10) 5.43 5.30 ±0.14 5.22 ±0.19
(n= 16) (n= 13)
5.08-5.50 4.82-5.54
Maxillarybreadth (MX) 7.00 7.26±0.18 6.84±0.16
(n=20) (n= 18)
6.93-7.56 6.53-7.12
Greatestbreadth ofcranium (GB) 12.90 13.17 ±0.29 12.50 ± 0.20
(n= 13) (n = 9)
12.50-13.72 12.04-12.68
Post-glenoidwidth (PGL) 8.10 8.29± 0.25 7.98 ±0.18
(n=17) (n= 11)
7.86-8.76 7.59-8.18
Height ofcranial capsule (HCC) 6.23 6.62±0.18 6.38 ±0.19
(n= 16) (n= 8)
6.36-7.03 6.03-6.60
Length ofmandible (md) 16.41 16.58 ±0.36 15.81 ±0.17
(n= 20) (n= 17)
15.83-17.34 15.58-16.28
Coronoidheight (cor) 6.70 6.64 ± 0.22 6.41 ± 0.17
(n = 21) (n= 18)
6.36-7.13 6.17-6.73
Lowertoothrow length (Itr) 9.70 9.99±0.19 9.46 ±0.19
{n =21) (n= 18)
9.65-10.42 9.13-9.71
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178 Julian ICerbis Peterhans et al.: Anew species oíSurdisorexThomas, 1906 from western Kenya
3.1. The Mt. Elgon Mole Shrew Etymology. The specific epithet honors Dr. Duane
Schlitter, recognizing his important contributions to the
Surdisorexschlitteri n. sp. knowledge ofAfrican small mammals and his personal
and scientific engagement in Kenya.
Holotype. FMNH 195069 (KMH 3213). Oldadult, teeth
heavilyworn, sex indetemiinatealthoughsuspectedtobe Diagnosis. Intemiediate in cranio-dental dimensions
KMH
male since no teats are visible. Secondary number comparedwiththeothertwospeciesinthegenus,S.polu-
3213. CollectedbyH. Grossman inDecember 1985. Spec- lus andS. norae. Braincase smallerand absolutelyshort-
imenpreparedasfluid-preseiA/edbodywith skullremoved. er. Themoreanteriorpositionofthepairofanteriorpalatal
foramina is unique withinthe genus, as is the position of
Type locality. Kenya, eastern flank ofMt. Elgon, erica- the lastpalatal foramen, situatedbetweenthe secondpair
ceous zone at 3,150 m. ofunicuspids. Infraorbital bridgenarrow. The lingualex-
tension of the upper is longer than in the other
Fig. 2. Fore-andhindfootoftheholotypespecimenoíSurdisorexschlitterin. sp. (FMNH 195069); lengthofhindfoot(including
claws) is 16.1 mm.
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Bonnerzoologische Beiträge 56 179
Fig. 3. Skull ofSurdisorex schlitleri n. sp. (FMNH 95069, holotypc); cranium in lateral, dorsal and ventral view, mandible in
lateral view.
members ofthegenus, andalmost incontactwith the an- ProtoconeofP'*veryprominent,formingaprominentshelf
terioredge ofM'. LowerP4 narrow. Mandibularcondyle withparastyle. UpperM' andM-withoutmetaloph. Low-
heavyandstraight-sided, forminganear-triangle without erincisordenticulate,withchisel-liketip. Mental foramen
sinuosity. beneath secondcuspoflowerP3. LowerP4fairlynanow,
exhibifing the inverted v-shape pattern typical of the
Description. The new species exhibits characterstypical Myosoricinae (Hutterer et al. 2002). Lower M3 with
forthegenus.Thetail isshort(28.6/84=34%ofHeadand well-developed and deep entoconid basin (Meester
Body). Fur is thick and woolly, length ofsingle hairs on 1963).
dorsum9 mm. Color faded, presumablybecause oflong-
termpreservationinalcohol,baseofhairsdarkbrown,ter- Meester(1958) foundthatpalatal foraminaareuseful in
mm
minal 2 lighter. Theforeclawsgreatlyenlarged,hind- distinguishingcloselyrelatedspeciesofprimitiveAfrican
claws moderately so (Fig. 2). Ear conch absent. Eyes re- Soricidae (i.e. Myosorex). For the new taxon, the three
duced and covered in membrane. Skull hexagonal, typi- principle anterior incisive foramina are tightly clustered
cal ofburrowing Soricidae (e.g. Myosorex,Anourosorex, in a triangle. Theanteriorpairis positioned slightly ante-
Blarina) with particularly well-defined anterior facets of rior to the inedially positioned third member ofthis tri-
the braincase (Fig. 3). Interorbital region elongate (be- ad, thispairbeinglocatedinaplaneevenwiththeantero-
tween posterior processes ofmaxilla and anterior aspect mostportionofthefirstunicuspid(Fig. 3). Thethirdfora-
ofthebraincase). Bridge across infraorbital foramennar- menofthistriadispositionedjustbelowtheanteriorpair
row (1.87 mm). Nuchal crests well-developed, sagittal andis still situatedwithintheanteriorhalfofthe firstuni-
crest slight. Braincase small and short, as reflected in the cuspid. These foramina are followed by two reduced
measurementfromtheanteromostcomerofthebraincase foramina, located approximately midway down the first
tothecorrespondingoccipital condyleandinthedistance unicuspid. A final foramen, the sixth, is located inidway
of the antero-lateral component of the hexagon-shaped down from the second unicuspid.
braincase. Foramen magnum oval-shaped. Paired frontal
foramina within interorbital basin. This basin provides a
sinuous curve to the lateral profile ofthe skull. 4. COMPARISONS
Three upper and two lower unicuspids, both unicuspid Inmostcranio-dentalmeasurements,Surdisorexschlitteri
rowsvoidofthevestigialunicuspidstypicalofMyosorex. is intermediateinsizebetweenS. norae,the largestmem-
Unicuspids broad, each with a medial accessory cusplet. berofthegenusandS.pohiliis,thesmallest(Table2). This
y
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180 Julian Kerbis Peterhans et al.: Anew species ofSurdisorexThomas. 1906 from western Kenya
Table3. Comparison ofselected cranial measurements (mm) for 3 species ofSurdisorex. given as mean, ± standard deviation,
range and sample size.
Cnaracter 5. norae ¿.poluius 5. schlitteri
Condylo-incisive length 25.8 ± 0.3 24.6± 0.3 25.1
25.2-26.7 2T>J.ÖO—2O5C.T1
(n - 21) (n- 15)
Post-palatal length 11.4 ± 0.2 10.9±0.3 11.3
1111.rÜ\—1ii1.ny 11n0.c5-1111.'2I
(n= 18) (n = 13)
Uppertoothrow length 11.0 ±0.2 10.4±0.2 10.5
10.6-11.5 11A0.A0-110A.7-7
(n = 21) (n=15)
Length ofP-^-M^ 6.3 ±0.2 6.0±0.1 6.1
6.0-6.6 5.8—6.3
(n = 18) (n = 14)
Length ofupperunicuspid teeth 4.9 ±0.2 4.6±0.4 4.4
4.6-5.5 4.2-5.4
(n= 18) (n- 14)
Greatest width ofupperP 0.7 ± 0.0 0A.7±A0O.1 0.7
0.6-0.8 0.¿6:—0.8
(n= 18) (n = 14)
Greatest width ofuppercanine 00..87-±0.0.0 0AÜ..8"77-±ÜA.O08.0 0.8
(n= 18) (n = 14)
Greatest length ofupperM-^ 1.6 ±0.1 1.5 ±0.1 1.6
11/.14—11-.7/ 11/.14—11."/7
(n = 18) (n = 14)
Greatestwidth ofupper 0A0..O98-±110..A01 0A0..O8Ö—±A0.0A9.0 0.9
(n= 18) (n = 14)
Interorbital width 5.3 ±0.2 5.3 ± 0.2 5.4
5.1-5.6 5.0—5.6
(n = 21) (n = 15)
Maxillaiy width 7.3 ± 0.2 6.9 ± 0.2 7.0
7.0-7.6 6.5—7.2
(n=21) (n=15)
Greatest width ofcranium 13.2±0.3 12.6 ±0.3 12.9
12.5-13.7 12.0-13.2
(n= 18) {n= 15)
Post-glenoid width 8.3 ±0.2 8.0±0.2 8.1
7.9-8.9 7.6-8.5
(n = 21) (n= 15)
Height ofcranial capsule 6.7 ±0.2 6.4±0.2 6.2
6.4-7.0 6.0-6.7
(n=21) (n= 14)
Length ofmandible 16.6±0.3 15.8 ±0.1 16.4
16.1-17.3 15.5-16.0
(n= 21) (n= 15)
Coronoid height 6.6 ± 0.2 6.4+0.2 6.7
6.3-7.0 6.0-6.8
(n = 21) (n= 15)
Lowertoothrow length 10.0±0.2 9.4±0.2 9.7
9.6-10.4 9.1-9.7
(n = 21) (n= 15)
1
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Bonnerzoologische Beiträge 56 181
intermediate position is reflected in its position between There is no east to west size cline among the species of
the other two species along the primaiy axis ofthe first Surdisorex, fijrtherdemonstratingtheirmutual distinction.
Principle Component (Fig. 1), an axis that illustrates size The largestspecies isSurdisorexnoraefromtheAberdare
differences. Its infraorbitalbridgeisnarrower(1.87)than Mountains, which is located between the populations of
either norae (1.97 and 2.26) orpoliiliis (2.13 and 2.16). S. schlitteri and S. polulus.
Its mandibular condyle is heavy and straight-sided and
more or less triangular, without the sinuosity seen in the Ecology ofSurdisorex spp. The ecology ofSurdisorex
othertwo species. spp. is poorly known; to date there has only been a sin-
gle published paper on the subject (Duncan & Wrang-
Thenew species canbe distinguished from S.polulus by HAM 1971). We have little data to report forS. schlitteri.
itsgenerallylargersizeinmostcranialanddental dimen- Represented by a single specimen, S. schlitteri is only
sions (CI, MX, GB, md, Itr: Table 2). In the new species, known from the ericaceous zone of Mt. Elgon. The
the central foramen ofthe anterior triad is located poste- Kenyan slope ofMt. Elgon was specifically surveyed for
rior to the triad pair whereas in S. polulus, it is situated subteiTanean insectivores by Duncan & Wrangham
slightly ahead, between the incisor and the first unicus- (1971) without finding this species. However, these au-
pid. The secondpairofpalatal foramina is in a compara- thors note that on Mt. Elgon, buiTows ofthe golden mole
blepositionbetweenthesespecies, butinthenew species, (Chiysochloris stuhlmannifosteri; species rank suggest-
the sixth andpostero-mostpalatal foramen is locatedbe- ed by Thorn & Kerbis Peterhans 2009) are 'common
tween the second unicuspids instead ofbetween the first infairly open ground in the ericaceous zone up to 10,000
and second unicuspids, as inS.polulus. feet <3048m>\ The golden mole is known from the eri-
caceous zone of Mt. Elgon and the nearby Cherangani
From Surdisorex no?-ae. the new species can be distin- Hills.ThestudyofDuncan & Wrangham (1971)showed
guishedby itsgenerally smallersize in mostdimensions: that Chiysochlorisfosteri feeds mainly on earthworms,
(CI,MX, GB, II-P3 length, Itr;Table2). Inthenewform, supplementedbysmalleroligochaetes. Earthwomiswere
the antero-lateral dimension ofthe hexagonal edge ofthe predominantinthedietofS. norae(Aberdaresrange) and
braincase is 4.63, compared with 4.79 and 5.15 in S. no- S. polulus (Mt. Kenya). They concluded that Surdisorex
rae. The distance from the antero-lateral comer of the and Chiysochlorissharean earthwonndietandmole-like
braincaseto the corresponding occipital condyle is 10.1 habits. Inturn,thismayhavecontributedtoecologicaldis-
vs. 10.18 and 10.93 inS. norae. The lowerP4 is nanow- placement, mutually excluding these vermivores from
erthan in S. norae. overlappingrangesduringtimesofclimatic amelioration.
Thoughthisisareasonableconclusion,thenewrecordof
The shorter length of the upper unicuspids in the new 5. schlitteri contradicts this view. The occurrence of S.
species gives them a relativelybroaderapppearance than schlitterion Mt. Elgon also calls into question the recog-
those ofS. norae. This is especially clear in the first and nition ofChiysochloris vs. Surdisorexbun^ows by visual
third unicuspids. The angle in the posterior fovea ofthe recognition alone.
upperP'' is about 90° inthenew form vs. 120° in Surdis-
orex norae; therefore there is no medial gap between the Reporting on the Oxford University Expedition of 1969,
P4 and M' in the new form compared with norae. Duncan &Wrangham (1971) documentedS. noraeand
S. polulus in bamboo, mixed Podocarpuslharahoo and
The anteriorpairofpalatal foramina in Surdisorexnorae swamp. IntheAberdares,S. noraewascollectedat Kian-
is positioned more posteriorly than in the new species, dongoro Gate (specimens in BMNH) along a swamp in
suchthattheyform a straight lineacross the anteriorhalf mooriand at 9,400' (=2,865 m). Our 2006 efforts (JCK,
ofthe firstunicuspid. Thenextpairispositioned compa- TCD, BA)documentedasingleS. noraeontheAberdares
rabletothecondition seen inthenewspecies,whereasthe at 2,700 m (=8860') in secondary forest, the lowest
final foramen is located midway down the third unicus- vouchered record for the genus, but none at 2,200 m
pid. (=7220'). During our surveys, S. norae was extremely
coinmon at 3,300 m (10,830') in Hagenia forest, Carex
Adistinct sinus canal foramen (Meester 1963) is visible tussockgrassandalpine shrubsandmeadows. Hellercol-
ontheleftsideofthepterygoidregionofthenewspecies. lectedS. noraeonthesummitoftheAberdaresat 11,000'
It is less well-developed but evident on the right side. In (specimens atUSNM;Appendix). Ourcollateddata (Ap-
othermembersofthegenus, acanal replacestheforamen. pendix) indicates that S. norae ranges between 2,700 m
Alarger series is necessary to detennine the significance and 3,350 m.
ofthis feature.
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182 Julian Kerbis Peterhans et al.: Anew species ofSwdisorexThomas. 1906 from western Kenya
Witha singleexception, allrecordsofS.pohilusoriginate haps from the third aswell (northernhighlands ofTanza-
from the west slope ofMt. Kenya. This may be an arte- nia): Lophuromys aquilus (MussER & CA.RLETON 2005),
fact ofsite access and collecting bias. The lowest record Hylomyscus anselli (Bishop 1979). Mt. Elgon also hous-
from Mt. Kenya (AMNH 82479) is at 9.000' (2,743 m) esafewstrictendemicsofitsown(Otomysbarbouri, Oto-
andthe highestrecords are from 12.100'(= 3,690 m, US- mysjacksoni). Although ourknowledge ofthe alphatax-
NM records). Records ofS. polulus from Mt. Kenya in onomyofthe smallmammals intheregionisincomplete,
BMNH
the collected by the Oxford Expedition of 1969 the central position ofthis extinct volcano reflects influ-
Mom
originate near the Naro Track at 10.500" (= 3.200 ences from multiple montane biotic systems.
m). Theyderivefrom arange ofbambooassociatedhabi-
tats includingmixedbamboo, bamboo/Podocarpusforest,
bamboo mixed with 6" grass and swamp near bamboo Acknowledgements. Wethank Dr. H. Grossmanforcollecting
(Oxford Expeditionof1969, specimens in BMNH). LOR- tvhiedifnigrstacmceemssbetro othfethsepenceiwmesnp.ecWiees tahnadnktotKh.eHGoowveelrlnmfeorntproo-f
ING (1910)describesthemascommon ingrassyopenings Kenya, includingtheOfficeofthePresidentfortheresearchper-
within bamboo thickets at 10,000". At other elevations mit(MOEST 13/001/30C/57)totheseniorauthor.Wethankthe
(10.700"and 12,100')theyfrequentedOtomys sp. runsin staffoftheNationalMuseumsofKenya(Dr. IdleFarah, Direc-
tall marsh grass. tor)andMr.OgetoMwebi(Head,SectionofOsteology)fortheir
continued support. For assistance in the field, we recognize, F.
Awuor. D. Muruthi and B. Ochieng. Forpermission to work in
AberdareMountainNP,werecognizeMs. CatherineWambani.
DISCUSSION
5. theSeniorWarden,withoutwhoseassistancesupplementalfield
workwouldnothavebeenpossible. D. Ogada.FatherBoniface
This remarkable discovery suggests a relictual biotic as- andtheGataragwaCatholic Parishprovidedkeylogistical sup-
sociationbetweenMt. ElgonandthenearbyKenyanHigh- port adjacent to Aberdare Mountain NP. Finally, we recognize
AMNH
landstotheeast(TheAberdaresand Mt. Kenya). Thethree thestaffofthBeMfoNllHowinginstitutionsfortheFirMasNsiHstance:
known species ofSurdisorex ssp. are confined to upper (beDr.g,LuJ.ndPeh)e.lps),USN(PM. J(eMn.kiCnasr,leDt.onH.ilLl.s)G.ordon,H.(MK.afSkcah)u,laennd-
montaneforest(uncommon),bamboo, andericaceousand ZFMK (T. Wagner).WeacknowledgetheBarbaraBrownFund
alpine zones above 2,700 m. The three taxa are mutually ofthe Field Museum for tlnancial support. Rebecca Banasiak
isolated due to their confinement to high montane habi- and Dirk Rohwedderhelped with preparation offigures.
tats.
Mt. Elgonhasbeenwell surveyedoverthepast 100years. Zusammenfassung. Surdisorex ist die einzige endemische
SäugetiergattungKenias. BisherenthiehdieGattungzweiArten,
For the Ugandan slope, this includes: Loveridge in die inden zentralen Hochländern Keniasbeheimatetsind. Hier
1933-1934(Allen&Lawrence 1936),Davenportetal. fügen wir eine dritteArt hinzu, ebenfalls aus Kenia, basierend
(1996); Clausnitzer & Kityo (2001); Clausnitzer aufeinem Exemplarvon derEricaceen-ZonederOstflankedes
(2003); Clausnitzer et al. (2003). In addition to the re- Mount Elgon. Diese neue Art. Surdisorex sclilitteri n. sp..
port ofDuncan & Wrangham (1971). historical expedi- verbindetMountElgonzoogeografischmitdenHochländernKe-
tions to the Kenyan slope ofMt. Elgon to collect small nias, dochweistdie SäugetierfaunadesMountElgonaucheine
spezielle Mischung faunistischerEinflüsse auf.
mammals include those of Kemp in 1909 (reviewed in
Loveridge 1937), Bayer in 1914 (Lonnberg 1918), the
Swedish Expedition of 1920 (Granvik 1924), and
Loveridge in 1934 (Allen & Lawrence 1936). The ab-
sence of Surdisorex in prior reports is surprising. The APPENDIX
genus is extremely common in bamboo/alpine zones of
theAberdares and Mt. Kenya. Perhaps its co-occurrence Specimensexamined.Surdisorexiiorae(Thomas, 1906):
with CJvysochlorisfosteri on Mt. Elgon limits its abun- all records from Aberdare Mountain NR Kenya. AMNH
W BMNH
dance. 187262, 8 mi of Bellevue (female); 6.7.8.1
BMNH
(type), east side, near Nyeri, 9500', old female;
BMNH
Mt. Elgon lies at the confluence ofthree major faunistic 10.5.3.1, 11,000" (female); 1974.653-74.657,
regions: the Albertine Rift and Congo basin to the west, Kiandongoro Gate, 9,400" (3 females, 2 males); FMNH
the Kenya Highlands to the east, and the northern high- 190257-190266, FMNH 190623-190626, 28.5 km W &
lands ofTanzania to the south. It houses representatives 4.9 kmN ofNyeri, 3,100m (6 males, 8 females), FMNH
oftwoorthreeofthesesystems(suiTunarizedinC^rleton 190622, 3.8 km W & 2.5 km S ofGatarakwa, 2,700 m
et al. 2006): Sylvisorex granti group, Colomys goslingi (male); USNM 165513-166515, (1 female, 2 males).
(Ruwenzoris, Albertine Rift); Crocidura elgonius. Cro- 182581-182586, summit, 11,000' (2 females, 4 males),
cidurafumosa, Surdisorex sp., Rhabdomys dilectus, and USNM 589811-589813,USNM589815-589818,Fishing
possibly Cricetomysansorgei(KenyaHighlands); andper- Lodge, 9,000'-9,500' (1 feinale, 6 inales).
© Biodiversity Heritage Library, http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/; www.zoologicalbulletin.de; www.biologiezentrum.at
Bonnerzoologische Beiträge 56 |83
Surdisorex pohtliis (Hollister, 1916): all but AMNH Hollister, N. (1916): Descriptions ofa new genus and eight
record, from W slope, Mt Kenya, Kenya. AMNH 82479, new species and subspecies ofAfrican Mammals. Smithson-
E slope, 9,000" (female); BMNH 1974.646-1974.652, ian Miscellaneous Collections 66 (1): 1-8.
NFaMrNoHMo4r3u84T5ra=cUk,SN1M0,510603'98(03, f1e2m1a0l0e's,(f2emamlael)e,s,FM2N?H); HolCStalaritnseitsveorNr,aat.iNo.Bnual(ll1e9tM1iu8ns)o:efuEtmha.estUPnaAirfttreiId.caISnntsaetmceatsímNvmaotarail,osnCahliinrMoutphtseeerUuan,miat9ne9d:d
43846=USNM 163983, 12100" (male); USNM 163975- 1-194, 55 pis.
163979(4males, 1 female),USNM 163981-163982 (2 fe- Hutterer, R., Barriere, P. & Colyn, M. (2002):Anewmyo-
males),USNM 163984(male), USNM 163986-163991 (3 soricineshrew fromtheCongoBasinreferabletothe forgot-
males,3 females),USNM 163993-163994(male, female), ten genus Congosorex (Mammalia: Soricidae). Bulletin de
USNM 163997-163998 (male, female), USNM 164000 rinstitut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique, Biolo-
(female), USNM 164003-164004 (2 females), USNM Hugtiteer71e,r,SuRp.pl&.:K7o-c1k6., D. (2002): Recent and ancient records
165509 (male), USNM 165511 (female), 9000"-12100", ofshrews from Syria,with notes on Crocidura katinka Bate,
USNM 589820, Naro Moru Gate, 10000' (male); ZFMK 1937 (Mammalia: Soricidae). Bonner Zoologische Beiträge
2003.702 (female),MtKenyaN.P.,2950m,Chagoriatrail. 50: 249-258.
Lonnberg, E. (1918): Mammiféres recuellis dans la région du
MontElgonparle Dr Bayer, en 1914. RevueZoologieAfri-
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ZOBODAT - www.zobodat.at
Zoologisch-Botanische Datenbank/Zoological-Botanical Database
Digitale Literatur/Digital Literature
Zeitschrift/Journal: Bonn zoological Bulletin - früher Bonner Zoologische Beiträge.
Jahr/Year: 2009
Band/Volume: 56
Autor(en)/Author(s): Kerbis Peterhans Julian C., Stanley William T., Hutterer Rainer,
Demos Terrence C., Agwanda Bernard
Artikel/Article: A new species of Surdisorex Thomas, 1906 (Mammalia, Soricidae)
from western Kenya 175-183