The Cretan shrew (''Crocidura zimmermanni'') is a species of

mammal A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three ...

in the family Soricidae. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to the island of

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

Taxonomy and evolution

''Crocidura russula zimmermanni'' was first described as a subspecies of '' C. russula'' in 1953, and reconsidered as a full species by Vogel et al in 1986 on the basis of their distinct

karyotype A karyotype is the general appearance of the complete set of chromosomes in the cells of a species or in an individual organism, mainly including their sizes, numbers, and shapes. Karyotyping is the process by which a karyotype is discerned by de ...

. The Cretan shrew has 34 pairs of chromosomes, while the other species examined in the study had 40. It may be a descendant of the

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

'' Crocidura kornfeldi'', the first ''

Crocidura The genus ''Crocidura'' is one of nine genera of the shrew subfamily Crocidurinae. Members of the genus are commonly called white-toothed shrews or musk shrews, although both also apply to all of the species in the subfamily. With over 180 sp ...

'' shrew to colonize Europe, which was distributed throughout central and southern Europe during the

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch (geology), epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.33 to 2.58Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fin ...

. It likely reached the island by

rafting Rafting and whitewater rafting are recreational outdoor activities which use an inflatable raft to navigate a river or other body of water. This is often done on whitewater or different degrees of rough water. Dealing with risk is often a ...

at some point in the early Pleistocene. It has remained extant on the island, while contemporaneous Cretan mammals such as

mice A mouse (: mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus' ...

, dwarf elephants, eight species of '' Candiacervus'' deer, and the Cretan otter went extinct. Unlike many small island mammals, it did not exhibit

island gigantism Island gigantism, or insular gigantism, is a biological phenomenon in which the size of an animal species isolated on an island increases dramatically in comparison to its mainland relatives. Island gigantism is one aspect of the more general "is ...

, remaining approximately the same size throughout its evolutionary history on the island. The Cretan shrew's primary predators are owls and other predatory birds. Unlike other Mediterranean islands, Crete may had some terrestrial predators, including ground owls and otters, which may explain the lack of island gigantism.

Habitat and status

The Cretan shrew is endemic to Crete, where it has been found on only three mountains, having been displaced from lower altitudes by the lesser white-toothed shrew (''Crocidura suaveolens'') and the

Etruscan shrew The Etruscan shrew (''Suncus etruscus''), also known as the Etruscan pygmy shrew, white-toothed pygmy shrew and Savi's pygmy shrew, is the smallest known extant mammal by mass, weighing only about on average. (The bumblebee bat is regarded as t ...

(''Suncus etruscus)'', which were introduced by humans around 1500 BCE and 1300 BCE, respectively. Its natural habitat is temperate

shrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominance (ecology), dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbaceous plant, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally o ...

, and the animal is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

. Scientists estimate based on data from owl pellets that within its range it is over ten times less common than the lesser white-toothed shrew. Due to its small, fragmented range, and competition with invasive shrew species, the species is considered

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...

by the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q305635 Crocidura Endemic fauna of Greece Endemic fauna of Crete Crete Mammals of Europe Vulnerable animals Vulnerable biota of Europe Mammals described in 1953 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot