A Field Guide to the Mammals of Egypt. Richard Hoath
163–219mm; Tail 57–84mm; Weight c. 40g. Large, rather dark, long-tailed shrew. Upper parts uniform dark brown, glossy on flanks, fur soft, short, and dense. Underparts dark grayish. Feet either grayish or brown. Head with typical pointed snout. Teeth white. Eyes visible but small. Ears large, sparsely haired, and, despite size, barely stand out from dense fur. Tail dark brown, about half of head and body length, sparse hair with long bristles except along last third of length.
Greater Musk Shrew (Crocidura flavescens)
Range and status: Patchily throughout Africa from Cape along eastern southern Africa north through East Africa to Ethiopia, Sudan, and Egypt, and west to Sierra Leone. In Egypt, easily the most widespread shrew, but even so, confined to the Delta and the Nile Valley south to Dahshur. Historically abundant in the region south of Damietta. Reported common at Abu Rawash and around Zaqaziq. Also the Fayoum where reportedly common.
Habitat: Moist areas with dense vegetation including canal embankments, irrigated fields, and cultivated areas. In the Fayoum, around settlements and gardens.
Habits: Like most shrews, may be active throughout the day and night. Territorial and solitary. Builds a nest of damp, matted grass. Diet mainly insects and other invertebrates including snails, but may also take small vertebrates with frog carcasses having been recorded in their nests. Predators include the Eagle Owl. Gestation c. 18 days. Litter size 2–6. Elsewhere, breeding season during wetter months.
Similar species: Other shrews. Distinguished by much larger size except from the very rare House Shrew, which has a proportionately shorter tail, thick at base, and lighter underside. Distinguished from the Flower’s Shrew, Lesser White-toothed Shrew Crocidura suaveolens, and Dwarf Shrew by dark underside and uniformly dark tail. All much smaller. In hand, first has tail bristles only along first half of tail; other two have bristles along entire length.
FLOWER’S SHREW Crocidura floweri Dollman, 1915
Pl. 2
Flower’s Shrew (Crocidura floweri)
Monotypic
Identification: Length 112–129mm; Tail 55–58mm. Small shrew, endemic to Egypt. Upper parts rather pale pinkish brown. Flanks and underparts whitish. Feet grayish white. Tail proportionately long, up to 75% of the head and body length, reddish brown above, whitish below with bristles only on first half. Bristles sparse and grayish white.
Range and status: Only known from Egypt where confined to Nile Delta and the Fayoum. Specimens recorded from Giza, Baltim, and a single record from the Fayoum. Very rare with no recent published records. Possibly extinct.
Habitat: Agricultural areas.
Habits: Unknown. Presumably similar to other shrews. Predators include Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis as one specimen recorded from the stomach of that species.
Similar species: Other small shrews from which distinguished by cinnamon tinge to upper parts and sparse bristles only extending along basal half of the tail.
DWARF SHREW (MUSK SHREW) Crocidura nana Dobson, 1890
Pl. 2
Monotypic
Arabic: Zibab qazam
Identification: Length 76–102mm; Tail 28–40mm. Very small, pale, long-tailed shrew. Coat short and dense, upper parts grayish, tinged brown, flanks paler and pale gray below. Head typically shrew-like, grayish with whitish throat and chin. Feet whitish, almost naked. Tail proportionately long, about 60% of head and body length. Gray above, whitish below with numerous, whitish bristles along entire length.
Range and status: From Egypt south through East Africa to Zimbabwe. In Egypt, recorded only from the southernmost part of the Delta south to Cairo (1 record).
Dwarf Shrew (Crocidura nana)
Habitat: Similar to other shrews. Recorded from moist farmland, canal banks, etc.
Habits: Unknown. Presumably similar to other shrews. Nest reportedly built of twigs and cotton bolls.
Notes: A further species, Crocidura religiosa, has been described from ancient Egyptian mummies (the Dwarf Shrew itself is known from mummified remains from Thebes). However, many authors reject this species and, unless a living specimen is found, it cannot be distinguished in the field and can only be identified from skeletal characteristics; thus, it has not been included. Bonhote (1909) claimed to have obtained one live specimen of C. religiosa at Abu Rawash, but provided no details.
Similar species: Other small shrews. For Flower’s Shrew, see previous species. From Lesser White-toothed Shrew told by proportionately longer tail and paler, grayer color above. Species’ known distributions in Egypt do not remotely overlap. Distinguished from Savi's Pygmy Shrew by larger size and proportionately longer tail.
LESSER WHITE-TOOTHED SHREW Crocidura suaveolens (Pallas, 1811)
Pl. 2
Subspecies occurring in Egypt: C. s. portali and C. s. matruhensis.
Identification: Length 80–112mm;Tail 25–40mm;Weight 3.5g. Small shrew with proportionately short tail. Upper parts brown to brownish gray, underparts whitish with no sharp demarcation along flanks. Feet whitish. Head with broad snout narrowing quickly to elongated proboscis. Ears rather small but distinct, standing out from fur. Eyes typically small. Tail same color as upper parts, indistinctly paler below. Bristles extend entire length of tail. Has a distinct musky odor.
Lesser White-toothed Shrew (Crocidura suaveolens)
Range and status: Very wide range over much of southern Europe, west to Scilly Isles and north to northern Poland, east throughout Asia from Middle East to China, Korea to Japan. Isolated records from Arabia. In Egypt, very few records. C. s. portali recorded from South Sinai west of St. Katherine’s Monastery, and from near Suez. C. s. matruhensis is known from only a few specimens taken west of Mersa Matruh. Despite the paucity of Egyptian records, the wide range of this species elsewhere may mean that it could turn up in areas in Egypt other than those in which it has so far been recorded.
Habitat: In Sinai, taken from 1,500m inside a small monastery west of St. Katherine. On the north coast, taken from Fat Sand Rat burrows in salty depressions near coast. Elsewhere, recorded from a wide range of habitats including woodland, gardens, marshlands, rocky hill slopes, vegetated dunes, and coastal plains.
Habits: Unknown in Egypt. Elsewhere, little known in wild but probably much like other shrews. Active throughout day and night though with peak in evening. Does not excavate a burrow but lives in cavities or crevices or in thick tangles of vegetation. Diet consists of insects, snails, worms, and other invertebrates. Gestation 24–32 days. Litter size 1–7. Once mobile, young follow female around by caravaning, where first of litter grabs mother by the rump, the second grabs the first, etc., forming a train.
Note: Certain authors reorganize C. s. matruhensis as a separate species, C. whitakeri.