Mindanao shrew mouse

Description

Crunomys melanius is a rodent that occurs on Mindanao,Camiguin and Leyte in the southern Philippines.Ten copies are known,five from Camiguin,four from Mindanao and one from Leyte.C.melanius occurs in forest areas from sea level to 1550 m altitude.Generally he does not seem to be general.The Leyte population was originally described as a separate species,C.rabori.That species was larger and had a less dark coat.Later,however,that was recognized as the result of age variation: the copy from Leyte was an old copy,while the two copies from Mindanao that were known at the time were younger.This species has a dark brown back and a gray brown belly and flanks.The coat is prickly.Younger specimens have a somewhat darker,less prickly coat.