Orii's shrew was first
described, as a
subspecies of the
Dsinezumi shrew (Crocidura dsinezumi orii), by
Kuroda Nagamichi in 1924; he named it after his collector,
Orii Hyōjirō, who had provided the skin and skull of a single male from
Amami Ōshima.[2]: 3 This
type specimen, damaged during the initial trapping,[2]: 3 was destroyed by fire in 1945.[4]: 22 In their 1951 checklist,
Ellerman and
Morrison-Scott listed the shrew instead as a subspecies of the
Greater white-toothed shrew (Crocidura russula orii).[3]: 81 In 1961, after the recovery of a second individual from the stomach of a hime habu or Ryukyu Island pit viper (Ovophis okinavensis),
Imaizumi Yoshinori elevated the shrew to species rank, based on
morphological comparison with other species of Crocidura.[4] In 1998, after the study of five further specimens from Amami Ōshima and
Tokunoshima, Motokawa Masaharu
[ja] confirmed this taxonomic treatment.[5]
Orii's shrew was first
described, as a
subspecies of the
Dsinezumi shrew (Crocidura dsinezumi orii), by
Kuroda Nagamichi in 1924; he named it after his collector,
Orii Hyōjirō, who had provided the skin and skull of a single male from
Amami Ōshima.[2]: 3 This
type specimen, damaged during the initial trapping,[2]: 3 was destroyed by fire in 1945.[4]: 22 In their 1951 checklist,
Ellerman and
Morrison-Scott listed the shrew instead as a subspecies of the
Greater white-toothed shrew (Crocidura russula orii).[3]: 81 In 1961, after the recovery of a second individual from the stomach of a hime habu or Ryukyu Island pit viper (Ovophis okinavensis),
Imaizumi Yoshinori elevated the shrew to species rank, based on
morphological comparison with other species of Crocidura.[4] In 1998, after the study of five further specimens from Amami Ōshima and
Tokunoshima, Motokawa Masaharu
[ja] confirmed this taxonomic treatment.[5]