Page 4 - Vogel_ali_1989

246 P. V o g e l , R. H u t t e re r & T\l. S a l à

Crocidura sicula. Below we give a formai account of these species including diag-

nostic characters which we found to be useful for determination.

Crocidura sicula Miller, 1901

1879 Crocidura sicula Giglioli, Arch. Naturgesch. 1879: 96 (nomcn nudum).
1901 Crocidura sicula Miller, Proc. biol. Soc. \\'ash. 14: 41.
1901 Crocidura caudata Miller, Proc. biol. Soc. \\'ash. 14: 42.

Holotype: USNM 103301, skin and skull of a young male from Palermo, Sicily,
coll ected by D. Coolidge o n 20 June l 900.

Diagnosis: A medium-sized shrew in the size range of C. suaveolens and C. rus-
sula, sharply bicoloured with a whitish undersurface, whitish fore- and hindfeet, and

a bicoloured tail (Fig. 3). Rosrrum of skul l rather nat and slender but bimaxillary

region broad as in C. russula. lnfra-orbital bridge narrow. Tips of the second and

third upper unicuspid teeth usually in one line '"''ith the tip of the parastyle of the
P4; parastyle of P 4 massi ve an d angular li kc a brick (Fig. 2), dorsal edge of the cingu-
lum of P 4 undulated, not straight; third upper molar narrow.

Di str ibution: the whole island ofSicily (Yesmanis 1976: fig. 14, I\1assa & Sarà
1982); the Egadi Islands Favignana, Marettimo, Levanzo (Krapp 1970), and Ustica
(Sarà et al., in prep.); Gozo (Sultana 1971, Schembri & Cachia Zammit 1979, Schem-
bri & Schembri 1979), known as subfossils from Malta (Storch 1970) where it is now

extinct. It is possible that also the P leistocene materia! described by Kotsakis (1986)

belongs to this species.
Re m a r ks: Although there exist considerable size differences between the island

populations, they ali share the same morphological characters mentioned in the diag-
nosis (Hutterer, unpubl.). The intraspecific variation and a comprehensive compari-
son wi th ali European and North African species, including thc fossil forms (~ J alec
& Storch 1970, Kotsakis 1986), will be published at a later date. Fig. 2 presents a brief

comparison of the skulls of the five Europea n species of the genus Crocidura, C. leu-
codon, C. suaveolens, C. sicula, C. ~immennanni and C. russula, and includes some
useful characte rs for identification. By combining colour and skull characters, a

simple key to thc European specics can be constructed:

l. Body and tail distincrly bicoloured, rran irion between dor al and whitish \entrai coloura-
tion sharp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Body a nd rai l not distincrly bicoloured, no sharp transition line bet\\een ,·emer and
dorsum .............. ....... ..... ....... ......... ............. ............. 3

2. lnfraorbital bridge very broad (Fig. 2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C leucodon
In fraorbita l bridge narrow, parastyle of P4 angular like a brick ............. C. sicula

3. Upper second and third unicuspid teeth shorter than the parastyle of P 4 C suaveolens
Upper second a nd third unicuspid teeth longer than the parastyle of P 4 • • . • • • • • . • • 4

4. Upper unicuspids very large with thick cingul a, parastyle of P 4 rounded C. ::.immermanni
Upper unicuspids not enlarged and with weak cingula, parastyle of P 4 hook-like C russula

C. sicula and C. zimmermanni a re insular species with a very limited distribution~

both shrews are probably relics of the Pleistocene Mediterranean fauna (Reumer
1986, Vogel et al., in prep.).