Crocidura hirta – Lesser Red Musk Shrew

Taxonomic notes: Four subspecies are listed (Heim de Balsac & Meester 1977), of which two occur in southern Africa: C. c. hirta, found in the wetter eastern areas of the country with annual rainfall over 500 mm, occurring in KwaZulu-Natal, Free State, North West, Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces, as well as Zimbabwe and Mozambique; while C. h. deserti (the arid variant) occurs in the drier western regions in northern Northern Cape, northern Botswana and north-eastern Namibia (Meester et al. 1986) Further research should resolve the taxonomy of these variants as there may be more than one species across the range. Crocidura hirta – Lesser Red Musk Shrew