''Neurotrichus'' is a
genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
of
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 ...
-like
moles. It is classified, together with the fossil genus ''
Quyania'', in the tribe
Neurotrichini
Neurotrichini is a tribe within the subfamily Talpinae of the mole family. It includes the living genus ''Neurotrichus'' with a single living species, the American shrew-mole (''Neurotrichus gibbsii''). While today restricted to the New World, ...
of the subfamily
Talpinae
The subfamily Talpinae, sometimes called "Old World moles" or "Old World moles and relatives", is one of three subfamilies of the mole family Talpidae, the others being the Scalopinae, or New World moles, and the Uropsilinae, or shrew-like mo ...
. The only living species is the
American shrew-mole
The American shrew mole (''Neurotrichus gibbsii'') is the smallest species of mole. It is the only living member of the genus ''Neurotrichus'' and the tribe Neurotrichini. It is also known as Gibb's shrew mole and least shrew mole. It is not cl ...
(''N. gibbsii'') of the northwestern United States and
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...
. A fossil species, ''
Neurotrichus columbianus
''Neurotrichus'' is a genus of shrew-like mole (animal), moles. It is classified, together with the fossil genus ''Quyania'', in the tribe Neurotrichini of the subfamily Talpinae. The only living species is the Neurotrichus gibbsii, American shrew ...
'' from the
Hemphillian
The Hemphillian North American Stage on the geologic timescale is a North American faunal stage according to the North American Land Mammal Ages chronology (NALMA), typically set from 10,300,000 to 4,900,000 years BP. It is usually considered t ...
of
Oregon
Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...
, was placed in the genus in 1968, but this animal is now thought to be more closely related to the Chinese fossil genus ''
Yanshuella''.
Two fossil species from the
Plio-Pleistocene
The Plio-Pleistocene is an informally described geological pseudo-period, which begins about 5 million years ago (Mya) and, drawing forward, combines the time ranges of the formally defined Pliocene and Pleistocene epochs—marking from about 5&n ...
of
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
known as ''Neurotrichus polonicus'' and ''Neurotrichus skoczeni'' were placed in a new genus, ''
Rzebikia
''Rzebikia'' is an extinct genus of mole from the Plio-Pleistocene of Poland. It is closely related to the American shrew-mole ''(Neurotrichus gibbsii)'' and had formerly been placed in the same genus.
Taxonomy
Two species are assigned to this g ...
''.
References
Literature cited
*Carraway, L.N. and Verts, B.J. 1991
''Neurotrichus gibbsii'' Mammalian Species 387:1–7.
*Hutterer, R. 2005. Order Soricomorpha. Pp. 220–311 in Wilson, D.E. and Reeder, D.M. (eds.)
Mammal Species of the World: a taxonomic and geographic reference. 3rd ed Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2 vols., 2142 pp.
*Zijlstra, J.S. 2010. ''Neurotrichus skoczeni'', new name for ''Neurotrichus minor'' Skoczen, 1993, preoccupied. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 30(6):1903.
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2894281
Talpidae
Mammal genera
Mammal genera with one living species
Taxa named by Albert Günther