Soricidae Author Russell A. Mittermeier Author Don E. Wilson text 2018 2018-07-31 Lynx Edicions Barcelona Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 8 Insectivores, Sloths and Colugos 332 551 book chapter http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6870843 978-84-16728-08-4 6870843 142. Burmese Short-tailed Shrew Blarinella wardi French: Musaraigne de Ward / German: Burma-Kurzschwanzspitzmaus / Spanish: Musarafa colicorta de Birmania Other common names: Southern Short-tailed Shrew , Ward's Short-tailed Shrew Taxonomy. Blarinella wardi Thomas, 1915 , “ Hpimaw , Upper Burma [= Myanmar ], about 26° N ., 98° 35" E. Alt. 8000’ [= 2400 m ] - Blarinella wardi was included in B. quadraticauda as a subspecies. Species boundary between B. wardi and B. griselda is not entirely clear. Monotypic. Distribution. NE y Myanmar and SW China (NW & W Yunnan). Descriptive notes. Head-body 60-69 mm, tail 32-43 mm, hindfoot 10-5-13 mm. No specific data are available for body weight. Condylo-incisive lengths are 18:5-19-9 mm, tooth rows are 6-9-8 mm. The Burmese Short-tailed Shrew is the smallest of the short-tailed shrews. It is similar to the Indochinese Short-tailed Shrew ( B. griselda ) but smaller and with narrower skull and braincase. Cranial breadth of B. wardi is usually smaller than 8-7 mm, whereas in B. quadraticauda is usually greater than 9-3 mm and in B. griselda is 8-:5-9-6 mm. Most teeth are heavily pigmented, which is most obvious on upperincisors. It has five upper unicuspids, third upper unicuspid is greatly reduced, and fourth is subequal to three-fourths the height of third. Habitat. Forests, including openings and edges. The Burmese Short-tailed Shrew was found as high as 2400 m in northern Myanmar and is most common at elevations of 1600-3000 m in southern China. Food and Feeding. The Burmese Short-tailed Shrew is insectivorous. Breeding. No information. Activity patterns. Burmese Short-tailed Shrews are semi-fossorial and good diggers. Specimens were captured at night. Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information. Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. In northern Myanmar (= Burma), the Burmese Short-tailed Shrew is threatened by deforestation. In China, it is probably not declining because its distribution only slightly overlaps with human settlements. Bibliography. Chen Shunde et al. (2012), Jiang Xuelong et al. (2003).