Vol. 40 No. 2, 2001

Seasonal Activity and Reproduction of Two Syntopic White-Toothed Shrews (Crocidura attenuata and C. kurodai) from a Subtropical Montane Forest in Central Taiwan

Hon-Tsen Yu1,*, Ting-Wen Cheng1 and Wen-Hao Chou2

¹Department of Zoology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan 106
²Zoology Department, National Museum of Natural Science, Taichung, Taiwan 404

Hon-Tsen Yu, Ting-Wen Cheng and Wen-Hao Chou (2001) We studied seasonal changes in age structure and reproduction for 2 spe- cies of white-toothed shrews, Crocidura attenuata and C. kurodai, on a mid-elevation forested slope in subtropi- cal Taiwan. In total, 564 shrews were collected by pitfall traps from Aug. 1995 through May 1997. Neither species had a conspicuous annual breeding season. The 2 species may have different social organizations and mating systems, judging from their sex ratios and proportions of breeding adults in the populations. A 3rd species of shrew, Chodsigoa sodalis, and a murid rodent, Niviventer coxingi, were syntopic with the 2 Crocidura species. Our study reveals that insectivores have been neglected in previous surveys of small mammals in Southeast Asia.

Key words: Crocidura, White-toothed shrew, Breeding season, Pitfall trap, Soricidae.

*Correspondence: E-mail: ayu@ccms.ntu.edu.tw