Louisiana researchers ID 14 new shrew species on Sulawesi

By JANET McCONNAUGHEY
Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Louisiana researchers have identified 14 new species of shrews on an Indonesian island where seven in that genus were previously known. Louisiana State University associate professor of biology Jake Esselstyn led 10 years of trips to the island of Sulawesi to collect the insect-eating mammals. The animals are relatives of hedgehogs and moles. All weighed less than a AA battery. The largest species have bodies averaging 95 millimeters, or about 3.7 inches long. The study was published Dec. 15 in the Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History.