COMPARISONS: Crocidura elongata is readily distinguished from most shrew species on Sulawesi by its long body and even longer tail, relatively pale color, and long and narrow hind feet and skull (tables 2, 5). Its head-and-body length is considerably longer than all species except C. rhoditis and C. quasielongata. Absolute hind-foot and ear lengths are on average greater in C. elongata than in any other shrew on Sulawesi (fig. 9; table 2). However, the other members of the Elongata Subgroup, first described below, can be difficult to distinguish (fig. 11; table 4). Compared to C. elongata, C. microelongata is smaller bodied, with a darker pelage and shorter average tail length. The thenar pad on the hind foot of C. elongata (fig. 14 C) is considerably longer than in either C. microelongata (fig. 14 D) or C. quasielongata (fig. 14 B). The skull of C. microelongata is also shorter but jO = AT T = tfaTe SKR = Coltk S elongata C. microelongataC. quasielongata C. pmbCfbp nearly as wide at the braincase and interorbital region, hence its relative width (BB / CIL and IOW / CIL) is greater than that of C. elongata (figs. 10, 12). Compared to C. elongata, C. quasielongata has a similar head-and-body length, but, on average, a shorter tail and paler pelage (fig. 12, table 2). The skull of C. elongata is very similar in length to that of C. quasielongata (figs. 12, 18). However, in C. elongata the rostrum makes up a smaller proportion and the postpalatal region makes up a greater proportion of skull length than in C. quasielongata (figs. 10, 12). In addition, relative braincase breadth (BB / CIL and BB / IOW) is, on average, slightly less in C. elongata than in C. quasielongata. A principal components analysis of 12 cranial measurements shows that these two species have broad, though not complete, overlap in multivariate morphometric space (fig. 11).
Sumber: Fourteen New, Endemic Species Of Shrew (Genus Crocidura) From Sulawesi Reveal A Spectacular Island Radiation