The forest shrews are the members of the genus ''Sylvisorex''. They are
mammals in the family
Soricidae and are found only in
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
. The genus name comes from the Latin world "silva" which means "forest" and "sorex", which means "shrew-mouse". This reflects the nature of these shrews, which prefer forest habitats. All shrews are carnivorous, and eat continually to satisfy their high metabolic rate.
[Mukinzi, I.; Hutterer, R. & Barriere, P. 2009. A new species of ''Sylvisorex'' (Mammalia: Soricidae) from lowland forests north of Kisangani, Democratic Republic of Congo. ''Mammalia'' 73 (2): 130–134.]
The genus contains these species:
*
Akaibe's forest shrew, ''Sylvisorex akaibei''
*
Cameroonian forest shrew, ''Sylvisorex cameruniensis''
*
Corbet's forest shrew, ''Sylvisorex corbeti''
*
Grant's forest shrew, ''Sylvisorex granti''
*
Howell's forest shrew
Howell's forest shrew (''Sylvisorex howelli'') is a species of mammal in the family Soricidae. It is endemic to Tanzania. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forest
Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mou ...
, ''Sylvisorex howelli''
*
Bioko forest shrew, ''Sylvisorex isabellae''
*
Johnston's forest shrew, ''Sylvisorex johnstoni''
*
Kongana shrew, ''Sylvisorex konganensis''
*
Moon forest shrew, ''Sylvisorex lunaris''
*
Mount Cameroon forest shrew, ''Sylvisorex morio''
*
Greater forest shrew, ''Sylvisorex ollula''
*
Lesser forest shrew
The lesser forest shrew (''Sylvisorex oriundus'') is a species of mammal in the family SoricidaeWilson, Don E.; Reeder, DeeAnn M. (eds.). 2005."''Sylvisorex oriundus''". ''Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference'' (3rd ...
, ''Sylvisorex oriundus''
*
Rain forest shrew, ''Sylvisorex pluvialis''
*
Bamenda forest shrew, ''Sylvisorex silvanorum''
*
Volcano shrew, ''Sylvisorex vulcanorum''
References
Mammal genera
Taxa named by Oldfield Thomas
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot
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