Abstract
We report here characteristic features of hair anatomy of all twelve shrew species and subspecies occurring in Sri Lanka. They can be reliably identified using hair anatomy, in most cases by a single characteristic feature. We examined cross-sections, cuticular scale patterns, medulla patterns and made measurements (length and maximal diameter) of dorsal guard hairs (GH1 and GH2). We also provide a dichotomous key for identification of shrew species and subspecies based on hair anatomy supported by reference illustrations of cross-sections, photomicrographs of cuticular scales and medullae. Cross-sections of GH2 hairs are characteristic to most species and seven species (Solisorex pearsoni, Feroculus feroculus, Crocidura miya, C. hikmiya, C. horsfieldii, Suncus zeylanicus and S. fellowesgordoni) can be distinguished using cross-sections of GH2 hairs alone. Cuticular scale patterns are also characteristic to species and subspecies of S. murinus, even with variation within species and among hairs of individuals. Medulla pattern is of least importance in shrew species identification, since all have unicellular ladder pattern, but can be used in combination with other characters to distinguish certain species based on whether the ladder pattern is regular or irregular. Hair measurements alone cannot be used in species identification except for S. etruscus, which has the shortest guard hairs among the shrews studied. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4038/cjsbs.v41i1.4537 Ceylon Journal of Science (Bio. Sci.) 41 (1): 45-66, 2012
Highlights
Hair is one of the unique features of mammals
Hair samples of shrew species and subspecies collected during an islandwide small mammal survey conducted by the last author (SM) from 2003 to 2005 were used in the present study, except that of Suncus zeylanicus, which was obtained from the Natural History Museum (NHM), London (Table 1)
Cuticular scale patterns are characteristic to species and subspecies and can be used in their identification
Summary
Hair is one of the unique features of mammals. Since the pelage in mammals is an adaptation to life in specific environments, its morphology changes according to the environment in which the animals live. Hair morphology is often unique to a species (Kondo, 2000). Identification of mammalian species using hair morphology was first established with the pioneering work of Hauseman (1920), built upon and promoted by Wildman (1954). With increased use of electron microscopes, scanning electron microscope (SEM) images became a useful technique in hair analysis (Short, 1978; Brazej et al, 1989; Broeck et al, 2000; Meyer, 2002). Due to limited access to electron microscopes and the high costs involved, many researchers opt to study hair anatomy using optical microscopy
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