Nectogalini is a

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflict ...

Old World The "Old World" () is a term for Afro-Eurasia coined by Europeans after 1493, when they became aware of the existence of the Americas. It is used to contrast the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia in the Eastern Hemisphere, previously ...

shrew Shrews ( family Soricidae) are small mole-like mammals classified in the order Eulipotyphla. True shrews are not to be confused with treeshrews, otter shrews, elephant shrews, West Indies shrews, or marsupial shrews, which belong to dif ...

s within the family Soricidae. As of late 2007, it consisted of six extant

genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...

and 25

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

, with some of the latter being further divided into

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

. Some, but not all members of the tribe are semiaquatic.

Adaptation to semiaquatic life

Members of this tribe that are associated with a

semiaquatic In biology, being semi-aquatic refers to various macroorganisms that live regularly in both aquatic and terrestrial environments. When referring to animals, the term describes those that actively spend part of their daily time in water (in ...

mode of life ('' Chimarrogale'', '' Nectogale'', and '' Neomys'') have developed several lifestyle adaptations. For example, some species have stiff hairs on the sides of their toes and feet, both on their fore and hind limbs. These increase the surface area of the feet, assisting in locomotion during swimming. In addition, species such as '' Neomys fodiens'' have developed elongated tails with the hairs forming a keel-like shape that is similar in function to a rudder when the animal is in the water.Churchfield, Sara, 1990. ''The Natural History of Shrews''. C. Helm/A & C Black, 178 pp.

Genera

* '' Chimarrogale'' (6 species) * ''

Chodsigoa ''Chodsigoa'' is a genus of shrews in the tribe Nectogalini. Species There are currently ten species classified under the genus ''Chodsigoa'': *Van Sung's shrew (''Chodsigoa caovansunga'') (Lunde, Musser and Son, 2003) *''?Chodsigoa hoffmanni ...

'' (10 species) * '' Episoriculus'' (4 species) * '' Nectogale'' (monotypic) * '' Neomys'' (3 species) * '' Soriculus'' (monotypic) * †'' Asoriculus'' (6 species extinct:

Holocene The Holocene () is the current geologic time scale, geological epoch, beginning approximately 11,700 years ago. It follows the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene to ...

) * †'' Nesiotites'' (4 species extinct: Holocene) Phylogeny of Nectogalini based on DNA and morphological characters after Bover et al. (2018).

References

Red-toothed shrews Mammal tribes {{redtoothed-shrew-stub