A tiny new species of Sylvisorex (Mammalia: Soricidae) from the Bamenda Highlands, Cameroon.

Abstract

A new species of shrew, Sylvisorex silvanorum n. sp., is described from specimens collected near Lake Bambili in the Bamenda Highlands of North West Cameroon. It is one of the smallest species of the genus occurring in the highlands of Cameroon and may be the sister taxon to S. vulcanorum from eastern Africa.

Together with the rodents Colomys eisentrauti and Lophuromys eisentrauti, the new species forms a set of species currently known only from the Lake Bambili area.

Keywords

• shrew
• new species
• Cameroon
• small mammals
• West Africa
• Bamenda Highlands
• endemic species