Assam Mole Shrew – Anourosorex assamensis

Anourosorex assamensisAnderson, 1875

Accepted name, Mammal Species of the World 2005

Blanford (1888) and Allen (1938) considered A. assamensis as a species distinct from A. squamipes. Mandal and Das (1969) reported on a series of mole shrews from Assam and noted their larger size in comparison to the Chinese population, an observation corroborated by my study of specimens in the FMNH. These differences were neatly shown in a principal component analysis performed by Motokawa and Lin (2002). Records from Meghalaya and Nagaland are based on specimens in the FMNH. It is not known whether the ranges of A. assamensis and A. squamipes overlap in S Assam or Manipur, but the occurrence of the latter in Mizoram (Mandal et al., 1995) may indicate the presence of a contact zone.

• Wilson, D and Reeder, D. (eds.) 2005. Mammal Species of the World. A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. 3rd ed. -- 2142 pp. Johns Hopkins University Press.