Diet Analyses of Shrews from Selected Localities in Malaysia

Cafasso Theodore, Tappa (2017) Diet Analyses of Shrews from Selected Localities in Malaysia. [Final Year Project Report] (Unpublished)

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Abstract

Shrew is basically a small modem insectivore mammal with characteristically long pointed snout. They have the smallest thick-tailed and superficially look mouse-like but not larger than a rat. Based on this study, a total of 52 individuals from eight species of the order Soricomorpha were used for anaJyseS the diet of shrew. The main objective of this study is to document all preferable insectivorous diet of shrews found in Malaysia and to analyse the feeding similarities among the selected species of the shrew. Samples were either freshly collected from two selected area in Malaysia or obtained from the voucher specimens deposited in Museum Zoological UNIMAS. Five orders of insects were identified including Coleoptera, Hymenoptera, Hemiptera, Diptera and Orthoptera. The order of Acari from the class Arachinid was been identified inside the stomach of the shrew. Phylum Annelid was also been identified in the stomach content of shrew including order of Cestoda and Haplotaxida. Crocidura genus has the most species feed on insect followed by the genus Hylomys and genus Suncus. Almost the entire Suncus genus in Malaysia showed an empty stomach content which distinguish the different frequency offood items that been eaten by the shrew. Result from this study show more than 80% of total variance offood , taken which explained the variation is significant. In addition, the prey preference among the shrew is not defined by the species but would have been defined by the genus and the abundance of insect in specific localities.

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