The
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 ...
''Cryptotis'' is a group of relatively small
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 with short ears, which are usually not visible, and short tails, commonly called small-eared shrews. They have 30 teeth and are members of the
red-toothed shrew subfamily. Since 1992, Neal Woodman (in cooperation with Robert Timm) at the United States National Museum has been in the process of revising the genus. To date, this has resulted in an increase in the number of species from 12 to 30.
Members of the genus are found mainly in
Central America
Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...
; the
North American least shrew, ''C. parva'', is the only species found north of
Mexico
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
. The genus occurs as far south as northern
Peru
Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...
and as far east as western
Venezuela
Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...
in
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...
. It is the only soricomorph genus found south of
Guatemala
Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...
. The
limited diversity and restricted northern distribution of shrews in South America implies that the group entered the continent relatively recently from
Central America
Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...
, where they are
more diverse, presumably as part of the
Great American Interchange
The Great American Biotic Interchange (commonly abbreviated as GABI), also known as the Great American Interchange and the Great American Faunal Interchange, was an important late Cenozoic paleozoogeographic biotic interchange event in which land ...
. However, shrews have no fossil record in South America that would allow their arrival to be dated.
List of species
* Genus ''Cryptotis''
[
*** Medellín small-eared shrew (''Cryptotis medellinia'')
*** Merida small-eared shrew (''Cryptotis meridensis'')
*** Wandering small-eared shrew (''Cryptotis montivaga'')
*** Peruvian small-eared shrew (''Cryptotis peruviensis'')
*** Scaly-footed small-eared shrew (''Cryptotis squamipes'')
*** Tamá small-eared shrew (''Cryptotis tamensis'')
*** Thomas's small-eared shrew (''Cryptotis thomasi'')
** ''C. parva'' group
*** Central American least shrew (''Cryptotis orophila'')
*** North American least shrew (''Cryptotis parva'')
*** Tropical small-eared shrew (''Cryptotis tropicalis'')
** ungrouped/relict
*** Enders's small-eared shrew (''Cryptotis endersi'')
*** Talamancan small-eared shrew (''Cryptotis gracilis'')
*** Big Mexican small-eared shrew (''Cryptotis magna'')
]
References
External links
{{Authority control
Mammal genera