Order Soricomorpha Author Wilson, Don E. Author Reeder, DeeAnn text 2005 The Johns Hopkins University Press Baltimore Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3 rd Edition), Volume 1 220 311 book chapter 0-8018-8221-4 10.5281/zenodo.7316519 Suncus murinus (Linnaeus 1766) [Sorex] murinus Linnaeus 1766 , Syst. Nat., 12th ed., Vol. 1: 74 . Type Locality: Indonesia , Java . Vernacular Names: Asian House Shrew . Synonyms: Suncus albicauda ( Peters 1866 ) ; Suncus albinus ( Blyth 1860 ) ; Suncus andersoni (Trouessart 1879) ; Suncus auriculata (Fitzinger 1868) ; Suncus beddomei ( Anderson 1881 ) ; Suncus blanfordii (Anderson 1877) ; Suncus blythii (Anderson 1877) ; Suncus caerulaeus ( Kerr 1792 ) ; Suncus caerulescens ( Shaw 1800 ) ; Suncus caeruleus ( Kerr 1792 ) ; Suncus celebensis (Revilliod 1911) ; Suncus ceylanica (Peters 1870) ; Suncus crassicaudus (Lichtenstein 1834) ; Suncus duvernoyi (Fitzinger 1868) ; Suncus edwardsiana (Trouessart 1880) ; Suncus fulvocinerea (Anderson 1877) ; Suncus fuscipes (Peters 1870) ; Suncus geoffroyi (J. B. Fischer 1830) ; Suncus giganteus (Geoffroy 1831) ; Suncus grayii Motley and Dillwyn 1855 ; Suncus griffithi (Horsfield 1851) ; Suncus heterodon (Blyth 1855) ; Suncus indicus (Geoffroy 1811) ; Suncus kandianus (Kelaart 1852) ; Suncus kelaarti (Blyth 1855) ; Suncus kroonii (Kohlbrugge 1896) ; Suncus kuekenthali (Matschie 1901) ; Suncus leucura (Matschie 1894) ; Suncus luzoniensis (Peters 1870) ; Suncus malabaricus (Lindsay 1929) ; Suncus mauritiana (Reichenbach 1834) ; Suncus media (Peters 1870) ; Suncus microtis (Peters 1970) ; Suncus muelleri ( Jentink 1888 ) ; Suncus muschata (Hatori 1915) ; Suncus myosurus (Pallas 1785) ; Suncus nemorivagus ( Hodgson 1845 ) ; Suncus occultidens (Hollister 1913) ; Suncus palawanensis ( Taylor 1934 ) ; Suncus pealana (Anderson 1877) ; Suncus pilorides (Shaw 1796) ; Suncus riukiuana ( Kuroda 1924 ) ; Suncus rubicunda (Anderson 1877) ; Suncus sacer (Ehrenberg 1832) ; Suncus saturatior (Hodgson 1855) ; Suncus semmelicki Tate 1944 ; Suncus semmeliki Koller 1930 ; Suncus semmelinki ( Jentink 1888 ) ; Suncus seramensis Kitchener 1994 ; Suncus serpentarius (I. Geoffroy in Bélanger 1831) ; Suncus sindensis (Anderson 1877) ; Suncus soccatus ( Hodgson 1845 ) ; Suncus sonneratii (I. Geoffroy 1827) ; Suncus sumatranus (Peters 1870) ; Suncus swinhoei ( Blyth 1859 ) ; Suncus tytleri ( Blyth 1859 ) ; Suncus unicolor ( Jentink 1888 ) ; Suncus viridescens ( Blyth 1859 ) ; Suncus waldemarii (Peters 1870) . Distribution: Afghanistan , Pakistan , India , Sri Lanka , Nepal , Bhutan , Burma , China , Taiwan , Japan , continental and peninsular Indomalayan Region; introduced into Guam , the Maldive Isls, Philippines , and probably many other islands; introduced in historical times into coastal Africa ( Egypt to Tanzania ), Madagascar , the Comores , Mauritius , and Réunion , and into coastal Arabia ( Iraq , Bahrain , Oman , Yemen , Saudi Arabia ). Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (lc). Discussion: A highly variable species with a number of genetically distinct populations that almost behave like semispecies ( Hasler et al., 1977 ; Rogatcheva et al., 2000 ; Yamagata et al., 1987 ; Yoshida, 1985). Chromosomes show Robertsonian polymorphism and vary geographically from 2n = 30 to 2n = 40 (Yosida, 1985). Forms with lower numbers are found in S India , Sri Lanka and peninsular Malaya. A number of laboratory strains have been established ( Oda et al., 1985 ). Much of the present distribution is the result of human agency ( Hutterer and Tranier, 1990 ). A clear allocation of all listed taxa to subspecies is not possible at this moment. Kitchener et al. (1994 b ) discussed subspecies in the Sunda Isls and recognized murinus , muelleri and seramensis as distinct. However, they did not consider names such as edwardsiana from S Philippines that may have priority. African synonyms include albicauda , auriculata , crassicaudus , duvernoyi , leucura , mauritiana , sacer , and geoffroyi ; see Heim de Balsac and Meester (1977) .