Anourosorex schmidi Petter 1963

Anourosorex schmidi Petter 1963, Mammalia, 27: 444.

Type Locality: India, Arunachal Pradesh, Bombdila, 2700 m.

Vernacular Names: Giant Mole Shrew.

Distribution: NE India (Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh) and Bhutan.

Discussion: Petter (1963) described this taxon as a subspecies of A. squamipes, a decision followed by most authors (Hutterer, 1993 a; Mandal and Das, 1969; Motokawa and Lin, 2002). A study of the holotype (MNHN Paris) and the discovery (in FMNH Chicago) of another specimen from Sikkim however reveals that A. schmidi is a giant form that deserves species status. Saha (1978) reported a similarly sized specimen from Gomchu, Bhutan. This mole shrew has a very large skull (condylo-incisive length 29.1-30.5 mm) and a bulbous dentition not found in any other population. The species appears to be confined to the SE slopes of the Himalayas.