The forest shrews are the members of 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 ...
''Sylvisorex''. They are
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 ...
s in the family
Soricidae and are found only in
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...
. 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, ''Sylvisorex howelli''
*
Bioko forest shrew, ''Sylvisorex isabellae''
*
Johnston's forest shrew, ''Sylvisorex johnstoni''
*
Kongana shrew, ''Sylvisorex konganensis''
*
Moon forest shrew
The moon forest shrew (''Sylvisorex lunaris'') is a species of mammal in the family Soricidae. It is found in Burundi, Rwanda, and Uganda. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forest
Montane ecosystems are found on t ...
, ''Sylvisorex lunaris''
*
Mount Cameroon forest shrew, ''Sylvisorex morio''
*
Greater forest shrew, ''Sylvisorex ollula''
*
Lesser forest shrew, ''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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