Suncus varilla

The lesser dwarf shrew is a species of mammal in the genus Soricidae. It is found in Botswana, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. It has a total length of only 9cm, making it one of the smallest shrews. Most of its fur is grey and its lower body is off-white. Not much is known about its behavior and habitat, since it is hard to capture. It's often found in and near termite mounds, where it nests in and probably also forages. It feeds on insects.

Suncus varilla

Chermundy · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Also called
Lesser dwarf shrewPBDB
Sits inside
SuncusPBDB
Diet
omnivorePBDB, for Soricidae
Life habit
ground dwellingPBDB, for Soricidae
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Eutheria

Time the record covers

At least 780 thousand years on record.

The record covers at least 2.58 Mya to 1.8 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 5.333 Mya to 0 Mya.

Miocene — about 0 of 9 occurrencesPliocene — about 3 of 9 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 6 of 9 occurrencesPleistoceneHolocene — about 0 of 9 occurrences5.4–5.3 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences5.3–5.1 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences5.1–4.9 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences4.9–4.7 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences4.7–4.5 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences4.5–4.3 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences4.3–4.1 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences4.1–3.9 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences3.9–3.7 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences3.7–3.5 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences3.5–3.3 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences3.3–3.1 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences3.1–2.9 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences2.9–2.7 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences2.7–2.5 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences2.5–2.3 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences2.3–2.1 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences2.1–1.9 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences1.9–1.8 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences1.8–1.6 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences1.6–1.4 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences1.4–1.2 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences1.2–972 ka Mya — about 0.7 occurrences972 ka–778 ka Mya — about 0.7 occurrences778 ka–583 ka Mya — about 0.2 occurrences583 ka–389 ka Mya — about 0.2 occurrences389 ka–194 ka Mya — about 0.2 occurrences194 ka–0 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences2.58 Mya1.8 Mya5.8 Mya0 Mya

9 occurrences of Suncus varilla on record, most of them in the Pleistocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

9 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

3 formations

Makapansgat — 24.20°S, 28.95°EOlduvai — 2.99°S, 35.34°EKromdraai — 26.00°S, 27.75°E

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The named rock units Suncus varilla has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 3 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Suncus varilla and its relatives

Pleistocene

Where Suncus varilla and its relatives were recorded in the Pleistocene.

Found in the same rock

163 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 8 sites for Suncus varilla, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

7 references

Each of the 9 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content1

Picture of Suncus varilla

Credit
Chermundy
Licence
CC BY-SA 3.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Suncus varilla was found in Sketchfab.

Smithsonian Open Access and MorphoSource were not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itSuncus through timeFormations of the PleistoceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Thomas 1895