| Hero shrew Temporal range:
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Eulipotyphla |
| Family: | Soricidae |
| Genus: | Scutisorex |
| Species: | S. somereni
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| Binomial name | |
| Scutisorex somereni | |
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| Armored shrew range | |
The hero shrew (Scutisorex somereni), also known as the armored shrew,[3] is a large shrew native to the Congo Basin of Africa. Its features are typical of a white-toothed shrew − short legs, slender snout, dense fur − except for a highly unusual spinal column. It has corrugated interlocking vertebrae that are unique among mammals except for its sister species, Thor's hero shrew. This unique adaptation allows the animal to bear a huge amount of weight on its back − 72 kg (159 lb) according to an expedition team.
The hero shrew lives in both lowland and mountain forests. They live in the undergrowth, feeding primarily on invertebrates. The evolutionary benefit of its unusual spine is unknown; it is hypothesized that it allows the animal to push itself under logs or between a palm tree's leaves and trunk to find food. Local tribes of people believe the hero shrew holds magical powers. It is classified as Least Concern by IUCN.
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The Hero Shrew
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Attack of the shrew!!!!!
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Interesting Facts about Shrew
Transcription
There were two explorers that were in eastern Congo that noticed a shrew that was the size of a small rat and was very furry. In all other ways, it looked like a shrew. It had a pointed nose and black coloring. - That seems kinda big for a shrew. Rat size?... Okay. - It is- it was a big. And small rat size, which is huge for a shrew, - yeah. This was a big shrew, and so these guys said, "That's a pretty interesting shrew," and the local residents said, "watch this," and took a living shrew, and they put it on the ground and a full grown man stood on it for five minutes, and then stepped off, and this animal walked away. And, if it had been any other- a rodent that size or another shrew that size, it would have been squashed flat. So these folks collected a series of specimens and decided, "Let's dissect one and see what the vertebral column looks like." It looks like a Triscuit. Let me show you what the next largest shrew would look like. Just like you and I, there are five lumbar vertebrae, and there are processes, just one or two, that stick out on either side, and then a dorsal process. This is a hero shrew, and there are ten to eleven lumbar vertebrae and each vertebrae has ten to twenty processes sticking out the side, and they are interlocked. So, you and I have, uh, lumbar vertebrae that a quite a bit bigger than the lumbar vertebrae of this shrew, but for the most part, look the same. A camel, a bat. All of these animals have lumbar vertebrae that look relatively the same. The Scutisorex is the most bizarre mammalian backbone within the entire group of mammals because of this morphology, and it actually stretches even into the thoracic region there, - Yeah. you can see it. That's expanded as well. Why? Why? We didn't know, and in fact, we may still not know, but that's part of this story. For over 100 years since its discovery, the hero shrew has been known by only one species. And all the other shrews have a backbone that looks like this. - Yeah. Many people think of evolution, uh- You could take this form here, and the form at the beginning and the two would look completely different from one another, but you have these transformational forms in between that show the gradual change. - The missing links. Exactly. - Okay. There were no links in this- from this to that. Some people suggested well, perhaps this change went directly from this form to that form. Two years ago in the Congo, we found another species of hero shrew, which is here. And you can see, that first of all, there are less lumbar vertebrae. There are eight in this form. There are ten to eleven here. - Mmhmm. And you can also see that the processes on this one are less, and they're bigger than here. - Ohhhh. So, uh, we have a form that may, and I say 'may' because this may not be the case, but this very well could represent an intermediate form between this guy and that guy. The missing link. - The missing link. Now, th- the aspect of this story that I think is the most intriguing is what benefit does this backbone provide this animal? - Mhmm. I remembered a conversation I had at the American Society of Mammologists meetings in Missouri, about 15 years ago with Lynn Robbins. He said, "When I was in the Congo, I was asking local residents about where I could find hero shrews and they said, 'Oh, come with us when we go to the palm trees to harvest beetle grubs, 'cause we always see them running around the base of the palm trees." And Lynn thought to himself, these people are pulling the bracks of the palm trees away from the trunk to access these huge beetle grubs. Maybe Scutisorex is inserting itself in between the trunk and the leaf base and bending its back and able to pry the leaf base away and then access these concentrated sources of food that would be unaccessible to any other predator. So it has a built in crowbar. So when I realized we had a new species of hero shrew, I called him up. I hadn't talked to him since the meetings. - Yeah. I said, "Lynn! You gotta join us on this," and this is the perfect place to publish this hypothesis. - Mhmm. Because we'd- neither of us have seen Scutisorex do this, so that's all this is, is it's a hypothesis. - Mhmm. But that's how science works. - Yeah. You get the idea out there and other scientists uh, subsequently, will make observations and see if, in fact, that happens or not. How many of these do we have here? We probably have twenty. - Twenty? Oh, that seems like a lot. I was- Yeah. - How many of- How many of these exist? One. This one. - This one. This is- - This is the holotype. This is the only one in any museum. In the world. - In the world. And you're holding it right there. - Right there. In my left hand. This is so exciting! - Oh yeah, its- I feel kind of honored to, like, be talking to you right now, knowing that- - You can hold it. I ca- Oh my god. This is- This is it. This is the only one. This is so exciting. This is science.
Description
Externally, the hero shrew resembles a typical large shrew. It has short legs, a slender snout, and small eyes. It has dense, coarse fur that is gray in color. It has two types of fur; some hair strands provide sensory functions while other produce scent. The hero shrew aggressively marks its territory, contorting its body to mark objects with its scent. It is thought that the odor repels other members of its species. The chemical it emits can discolor its fur yellow.[4]
The hero shrew lives in the forest undergrowth in sparsely populated areas, which leads to it rarely being seen by humans. It is primarily an insectivore, but will eat small amphibians and lizards in the wild, and bird and mammal meat in captivity. A fully grown hero shrew's body is 12–15 centimetres (4.7–5.9 in) in length with a tail of 6.8–9.5 centimetres (2.7–3.7 in).[4] It weighs 70–113 grams (2.5–4.0 oz).[5] It does not exhibit sexual dimorphism. The breeding habits of the hero shrew have not been observed.[6]
Adaptations
The vertebrae of the hero shrew are thick, corrugated cylinders.[5] The vertebrae interlock on their sides and lower surfaces. The animal's spine has bony projections that mesh to form a strong yet flexible backbone.[4] The differences are especially pronounced in the lower back between the rib cage and hips.[5] The hero shrew has 11 lumbar vertebrae, in contrast to a typical mammal which has 5 such vertebrae. The spine of the hero shrew accounts for 4% of its body weight, in contrast to 0.5–1.6% for a typical small mammal.[4] The ribs of the shrew are thicker than those of similarly sized mammals and the spinal muscles are significantly different. Its abdominal muscles are reduced, while its spinal muscles are enlarged. As a result, the hero shrew has a peculiar gait with its spine flexing in a snake-like manner.[4]
During an expedition to the Congo region in the 1910s, the natives demonstrated the remarkable strength of the hero shrew to naturalists Herbert Lang and James Chapin. After some mystical preparation, an adult male estimated to weigh 72 kg (159 lb) stepped on a shrew and balanced himself on one foot. After several minutes, the man stepped off and the shrew left unharmed.[7] The combination of animal's vertebral strength and its convex curvature behind the shoulder kept its vital organs from being crushed in the demonstration.[8] The feat represented a weight of roughly 1000 times the animal's body weight, the equivalent of a human holding 10 elephants.[9] Relative to body size, the hero shrew's spine is roughly four times more robust than any other vertebrate (excluding its sister species).[8]
Despite its great strength, the hero shrew's spine is easily flexed sagittally (the muscles for doing this are well developed).[9] As a result, the animal can turn 180° within a burrow only slightly wider than the shrew.[4] However, the animal cannot extend its spine or bend it laterally.[9] Its intervertebral joints are five times more resistant to twisting along the axis than a common rat, adjusted for size.[8]
Range and status
The hero shrew is found in tropical rainforest in the Congo Basin and nearby mountains, over an altitudinal range of 700 to 2230 m. It appears to be dependent on forest habitat. In the mountains it is often present near streams. Its range includes Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda, but apparently does not extend west of the Oubangi River.[1]
The hero shrew is listed as a Least Concern species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). It is thought to have a large population and relatively wide distribution. Its distribution overlaps multiple protected areas and thus the hero shrew is unlikely to experience significant population decline in the near future.[1]
Adaptive significance
Typically, the backbone is thought to be one of the most conserved parts of the skeleton. Why the hero shrew did not follow this pattern has presented a significant puzzle.[4] Prior to 2013, there was no satisfactory explanation for adaptive advantage of the strong spine.[5][10] In 1974, Jonathan Kingdon suggested that the robust spine and associated posture keeps the animal's body clear of wet ground in swampy habitats.[8] An alternate idea was that the intricate spine somehow evolved as the consequence of some unrelated adaptive factor, as in the spandrels of St. Marco hypothesis. Neither idea had strong scientific support.[9] In 1998, Dennis Cullinane and his colleagues undertook an extensive survey of hero shrew's anatomy and concluded there was no obvious functional significance for the adaptation.[8]
In 2013, a team headed by William T. Stanley of the Field Museum proposed that Scutisorex may use their exceptional spines to lever logs or dead palm leaves, enabling access to invertebrate prey such as earthworms (Oligochaeta) (An interview with William Stanley: The Hero Shrew on YouTube). Although this behavior has not been directly observed, when local people are collecting beetle larvae in a similar fashion, they often encounter the shrews.[9] Scientist Kristofer Helgen called the new theory "the first compelling explanation for the adaptive significance of the unusual spine."[10]
Initial scientific description
The hero shrew was first described in 1910 by Oldfield Thomas from a single specimen found in Uganda.[7] But its unique spinal structure was not discovered until 1917, when J. A. Allen examined a preserved specimen from the American Museum of Natural History.[6] The name "hero shrew" stems from the local Mangbetu name for the animal.[6]
Cultural significance
The hero shrew is revered in its homeland. Its extraordinary strength has led to the shrew being used as a talisman by the local Mangbetu people.[9] Tradition holds that any part of the shrew, even its ashes, will provide invincibility in battle.[4] Local medicine men use the shrew to create a medicine said to provide courage and protection from injury during battle.[8]
References
- ^ a b c Cassola, F. (2020). "Scutisorex somereni". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: e.T41449A166519064. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-1.RLTS.T41449A166519064.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
- ^ Kerbis Peterhans, J. (2008). "Scutisorex somereni". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008. Retrieved July 28, 2013.
- ^ Hutterer, R. (2005). "Order Soricomorpha". In Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 257. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Piper, Ross (2007). Extraordinary Animals: An Encyclopedia of Curious and Unusual Animals. Greenwood Press. ISBN 0313339228.
- ^ a b c d "Mammal record breakers – What a backbone!". The Mammal Society. September 22, 2003. Archived from the original on October 18, 2004.
- ^ a b c Hatchett, Jani. "Scutisorex somereni: armored shrew (Also: hero shrew)". Animal Diversity Web. Retrieved July 28, 2013.
- ^ a b Allen, J. A. (1917). "The skeletal characters of Scutisorex Thomas". Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 28: 769–784. hdl:2246/1070.
- ^ a b c d e f Merritt, Joseph F. (2010). The Biology of Small Mammals. JHU Press. pp. 131–134. ISBN 0801879507.
- ^ a b c d e f Stanley, W. T.; Robbins, L. W.; Malekani, J. M.; Mbalitini, S. G.; Migurimu, D. A.; Mukinzi, J. C.; Hulselmans, J.; Prevot, V.; Verheyen, E.; Hutterer, R.; Doty, J. B.; Monroe, B. P.; Nakazawa, Y. J.; Braden, Z.; Carroll, D.; Kerbis Peterhans, J. C.; Bates, J. M.; Esselstyn, J. A. (23 October 2013). "A new hero emerges: Another exceptional mammalian spine and its potential adaptive significance". Biology Letters. 9 (5): 20130486. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2013.0486. PMC 3971687. PMID 23883579.
- ^ a b Hogenboom, Melissa (July 24, 2013). "New species of super-strong 'Hero Shrew' discovered". BBC. Retrieved July 24, 2013.
External links
- The Lord Geekington: The Hero Shrew! Cameron McCormick, December 29, 2007
This page was last edited on 14 March 2024, at 23:41