NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Nilgiri Highland Shrew
Suncus niger Horsfield, 1851
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Suncus niger Horsfield, 1851
- Name authority
- Horsfield, 1851
- Common name
- Nilgiri Highland Shrew
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Eulipotyphla
- Family
- Soricidae
- Genus
- Suncus
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
- subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
- infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
- orderEulipotyphla Waddell, Okada & Hasegawa, 1999
- familySoricidae G. Fischer, 1814
- subfamilyCrocidurinae A. Milne-Edwards, 1872
- genusSuncus Ehrenberg, 1832
- speciesSuncus niger Horsfield, 1851
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Suncus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Day's ShrewSuncus dayi (Dobson, 1888) | SoricidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Etruscan ShrewSuncus etruscus (Savi, 1822) | SoricidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Sri Lanka ShrewSuncus fellowesgordoni W. W. A. Phillips, 1932 | SoricidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Least Dwarf ShrewSuncus infinitesimus (Heller, 1912) | SoricidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Malayan Pygmy ShrewSuncus malayanus (Kloss, 1917) | SoricidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Lesser Dwarf ShrewSuncus varilla (Thomas, 1895) | SoricidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Jungle ShrewSuncus zeylanicus Phillips, 1928 | SoricidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Bornean Pgymy ShrewSuncus hosei (Thomas, 1893) | SoricidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Taita ShrewSuncus aequatorius (Heller, 1912) | SoricidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Black ShrewSuncus ater Medway, 1965 | SoricidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Greater Dwarf ShrewSuncus lixa (Thomas, 1898) | SoricidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Climbing ShrewSuncus megalurus (Jentink, 1888) | SoricidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Suncus montanus niger Horsfield, 1851 Horsfield, 1851 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=1229315 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:CGFZ9. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.