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Plantdrew: taxobox cleanup

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{{Taxobox
| name = Lesser white-toothed shrew<ref name=msw3>{{MSW3 Hutterer | pages = 250}}</ref>
| image = Gartenspitzmaus.jpg
| image_caption =
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name=iucn>{{IUCN2006 | assessor = Insectivore Specialist Group | year = 1996 | id = 29656 | title = Crocidura suaveolens | downloaded = 2006-05-12}} Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is of least concern</ref>
| regnum = [[Animalia]]
| phylum = [[Chordata]]
| classis = [[Mammalia]]
| ordo = [[Eulipotyphla]]
| familia = [[Soricidae]]
| genus = ''[[Crocidura]]''
| species = '''''C. suaveolens'''''
| binomial = ''Crocidura suaveolens''
| binomial_authority = ([[Peter Simon Pallas|Pallas]], 1811)
| range_map = Lesser White-toothed Shrew area.png
| range_map_caption = Lesser white-toothed shrew range
}}

The '''lesser white-toothed shrew''' (''Crocidura suaveolens'') is a tiny [[shrew]] with a widespread distribution in [[Africa]], [[Asia]] and [[Europe]].<ref name="arkive">{{cite web|url=http://www.arkive.org/lesser-white-toothed-shrew/crocidura-suaveolens/#text=All|title=Lesser white-toothed shrew|publisher=ARKive|accessdate=21 December 2010}}</ref><ref name=Harris>{{cite web|last=Harris|first=S|title=Mammals of the British Isles|publisher=The Mammal Society|author2=Yalden, D. W }}</ref> Its preferred habitat is [[scrubland|scrub]] and gardens and it feeds on [[insect]]s, [[worm]]s, [[slug]]s, [[snail]]s, [[newt]]s and small [[rodent]]s. The closely related Asian lesser white-toothed shrew (''[[Crocidura shantungensis]]'') was once included in this species, but is now considered to be a separate species.

Like the [[common shrew]], a female lesser white-toothed shrew and her young may form a "caravan" when foraging for food or seeking a place of safety; each shrew grips the tail of the shrew in front so that the group stays together.<ref name="arkive"/>

==Distribution and habitat==
Occurs widely from France and [[Spain]], in the west, across Europe and Asia to Japan and also in North Africa.<ref name="arkive" /> There is one isolated [[United Kingdom]] population in the [[Isles of Scilly]] and another two populations off the [[France|French coast]] in the [[Channel Islands]] of [[Jersey]] and [[Sark]].<ref name=yalden>{{cite book|last1=Yalden|first1=Derek|title=The History of British Mammals|date=1999|publisher=T & A D Poyser Ltd.|location=London|isbn=0-85661-110-7}}</ref> The preferred habitat is dry ground, including scrub and gardens, and within the Isles of Scilly can be found on [[shingle beach]]es and [[Dune|sand dunes]].<ref name="arkive" />

==The Scilly shrew==
The population found on the Isles of Scilly, off the southwest coast of [[England]], was once thought to be a sub-species, ''Crocidura suaveolens cassiteridum'',<ref name="arkive"/> and is known as the Scilly shrew. Skull and tooth measurements of individuals from Scilly are found to be intermediate in size of those in the [[Channel Islands]] and the darker fur of the Scilly specimens is not considered a valid reason for the naming of a sub-species.<ref name="Harris"/> It is unusual in that it can be found on the islands' beaches.<ref>{{cite book|title=Red Data Book for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly|year=2009|publisher=Croceago Press|location=Praze-an-Beeble|isbn=978-1-901685-01-5|pages=402–417|author=Lord D|edition=2nd|authorlink=Mammals (excluding Bats)|editor=In CISFBR}}</ref> The Scillonian name for the animal is "''teak''" or "''teke''".<ref>Robinson, H.W. (1925) ''A New British Animal Discovered in Scilly''. Scillonian 4: 123-4</ref>

Archaeological remains indicate that it was present on the islands in the [[bronze Age]], so it may have been present before the Isles of Scilly became separated from the European continent, or may have migrated from the Channel Islands or Europe onboard ships.<ref name="IOSWT">{{cite web|url=http://www.ios-wildlifetrust.org.uk/wildlife/scilly_mammals/scilly_shrew.htm|title=Scilly shrew|publisher=Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust|accessdate=21 December 2010}}</ref> Although if shrews had survived through the [[Last Glacial Maximum|last glaciation]] or the [[Younger Dryas]], it would seem that northerly distributed species such as ''[[Sorex araneus]]'' would have been more likely to survive, rather than a southerly distributed species such as ''Crocidura suaveolens''.<ref name=yalden/>

In July 1924 W N Blair found an unknown species of shrew on [[Gugh]] and sent it to the mammal expert, Mr [[Martin Hinton|Hinton]], at the [[British Museum]]. This specimen, held at the museum, is the [[Type species|type]] for the species.<ref>Blair, W.N. (1926) ''Blair's White-toothed Shrew''. Scillonian 5:164-5.</ref> Ten years earlier H N Robinson found an unknown rodent at Old Town [[St Mary's, Isles of Scilly|St Mary's]] and sent it to Mr F W Smalley "who had the largest collection of rodents in the country".
In 2010, a Scilly shrew made headlines on [[BBC Cornwall]] when it [[Stowaway|stowed away]] on the passenger ferry [[RMV Scillonian III|RMV ''Scillonian III'']]. It was only discovered as the ship was about to arrive in Penzance. The shrew was flown back to the Isles of Scilly the next day on a [[Isles of Scilly Skybus|Skybus]] plane and then released back into its natural environment.<ref name=" shrew">[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10337485 Cornish ferry stowaway shrew flown home, 17 June 2010] (accessed 2011-08-16)</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Soricomorpha|C1.}}

[[Category:Crocidura]]
[[Category:Mammals of North Africa]]
[[Category:Mammals of Europe]]
[[Category:Fauna of North Africa]]
[[Category:Mammals of Kazakhstan]]
[[Category:Mammals of Uzbekistan]]
[[Category:Mammals of Kyrgyzstan]]
[[Category:Mammals of Tajikistan]]
[[Category:Mammals of Turkmenistan]]
[[Category:Mammals of Azerbaijan]]
[[Category:Mammals of Turkey]]
[[Category:Fauna of the Palestinian territories]]
[[Category:Mammals of the Middle East]]
[[Category:Fauna of Cyprus]]
[[Category:Fauna of Northern Cyprus]]
[[Category:Environment of the Isles of Scilly]]
[[Category:Animals described in 1811]]

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