Two New Mammal Species Discovered in Huangshan
Anhui Musk Rat Zhang Baowei photographed.
Recently, scientists discovered musk rats ( qú ) belonging to the musk rat species in Huangshan Scenic Area, Anhui Province. After research, it was confirmed that there are two new species of mammals.
The ‘Huangshan Scenic Area Wild Animal Observation Cooperation Project’, co-sponsored by the Huangshan Scenic Area Management Committee’s Garden and Landscape Bureau and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment’s Nanjing Environment Science Institute and Anhui University, has recently achieved major breakthroughs in musk rat classification research.
Yellow Mountain Musk Rat Zhang Baowei photographed.
The research team used morphological and phylogenetic analyses to confirm that musk rat species collected in the floating monkey valley of Huangshan Scenic Area are two new mammal species, which were named ‘Anhui Musk Rat’ (Crociduraanhuiensis) and ‘Huangshan Small Musk Rat’ (Crodurahuangshanensis).
This research was published in the English version of ‘ZoologicalSystematics’ (2019, Vol. 4 and 2020, Vol. 1) published by the Animal Classification Department of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and other units.
Musk rats belong to the rodent order Crociduridae. This genus is distributed in Asia, Europe and Africa, most species are concentrated in tropical and subtropical regions, living in forests, plains, hills and mountains, feeding mainly on soil insects, and also eating some plants’ flowers, fruits and seeds. Musk rats resemble rats, with body sizes of three types: large, medium and small.
Anhui Musk Rat: Small eyes; round ears; the back fur is grayish-brown tending to black, the abdomen is lighter than the back; the tail is the same color as the fur, only 76% of the length of the head and body; the tail is almost bare, with a sparse, short, bristly hair bundle at the tail end, the legs are semi-naked, pink in color, the ankle joints are covered with sparse, short hairs; the skull is long and narrow, the first pair of incisors on the skull is developed, the zygomatic arch is obvious. The sample (6 individuals) weighs 10.52-13.51g, the head-body length is 60.88-78.10mm, the tail length is 48.34-59.24mm, the forefoot length is 9.20-9.87mm, the hindfoot length is 13.52-14.83mm, the ear length is 7.74-9.24mm, the skull length is 20.81-22.38mm.
Huangshan Small Musk Rat: Small head; nose long; whiskers reach the bottom of the ears; small eyes; round ears with shell on the ear shell, with a prominent base fur; the fur is grayish-brown, the back is slightly black; the limbs are slender, the forefoot and hindfoot have five () fingers, the foot has a small and fleshy prominence, the finger pad and toe bottom are pink, semi-naked, the ankle has sparse, brown hair; the tail is about 76% of the length of the head and body, the color is similar to the fur, almost bare, with a very small amount of long bristles; the skull is long and flat, without a zygomatic arch, the first pair of incisors on the skull is curved, developed, the zygomatic arch is obvious. The sample (5 individuals) weighs 4.35-7.77g, the head-body length is 50.45-61.97mm, the tail length is 39.64-45.03mm, the forefoot length is 6.99-8.33mm, the hindfoot length is 11.84-13.82mm, the ear length is 7.86-8.70mm, the skull length is 16.88-17.90mm.
Researchers believe that the two new species found in the Huangshan Scenic Area all belong to medium-sized musk rats. The discovery of Anhui Musk Rat and Huangshan Small Musk Rat as two new species further enriches the mammalian biodiversity of Huangshan Scenic Area, especially the beast fauna, and fills the blank in the musk rat research in the area.
Source: China News Network
Source: ZAKER Xiaosang
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