According to the current taxonomy, the Myosoricinae are a subfamily of shrews. As such, they form one of three main types of shrews, the other two being the red-toothed shrews and the white-toothed shrews. They are the only one of the three to be found exclusively south of the Sahara Desert, and so they have been described in English as the African shrews, but also many white-toothed shrews are in Africa and therefore this term is more generally used for shrews from Africa in general.Quérouil et al., 2001, Mol. Phyl. Evol. 20(2):185-195 (Another vernacular term is African white-toothed shrews, though this perpetuates the same confusion.)
Classification
The subfamily has three genera and 20 species: Subfamily Myosoricinae Genus Congosorex - Congo shrews Phillips' Congo shrew, C. phillipsorum Greater Congo shrew, C. polli Lesser Congo shrew, C. verheyeni Genus Myosorex - forest and mouse shrews Babault's mouse shrew, M. babaulti Montane mouse shrew, M. blarina Bururi forest shrew, M. bururiensis Dark-footed mouse shrew, M. cafer Eisentraut's mouse shrew, M. eisentrauti Geata mouse shrew, M. geata Nyika mouse shrew or Nyika burrowing shrew, M. gnoskei Kahuzi swamp shrew, M. jejei Kabogo mouse shrew M. kabogoensis Kihaule's mouse shrew, M. kihaulei Long-tailed forest shrew, M. longicaudatus Meester's forest shrew, M. meesteri Oku mouse shrew, M. okuensis Rumpi mouse shrew, M. rumpii Schaller's mouse shrew, M. schalleri Sclater's mouse shrew, M. sclateri Thin mouse shrew, M. tenuis Forest shrew, M. varius Kilimanjaro mouse shrew, M. zinki Genus Surdisorex - African mole shrews Aberdare mole shrew, S. norae Mount Kenya mole shrew, S. polulus Mount Elgon mole shrew, S. schlitteri
According to Furió et al.(2007)Furió, M.; Santos-Cubedo, A.; Minwer-Barakat, R.; Agustí, J. 2007. Evolutionary history of the African soricid Myosorex (Insectivora, Mammalia) out of Africa. J. Vert. Paleont. 27(4):1018-1032. the group should have the status of tribe, as a relict of the primitive subfamily Crocidosoricinae.Reumer, 1987
References