Cyrenaica shrew Cyrenaica shrew The Cyrenaica shrew or Alexander's shrew ("Crocidura aleksandrisi") is a species of white-toothed shrew in the family Soricidae which is endemic to Libya. The Cyrenaica shrew is a small shrew which is very similar to the widespread lesser white-toothed shrew of Europe and Asia, both species have teeth which lack the red colouration on the crowns of the teeth. They are small mammals with paler fur underneath and a pointed muzzle and a long tail. The Cyrenaica shrew is endemic to Libya, specifically to the province of Cyrenaica where it is found from sea level up to 200
Tripoli passed into the hands of the rulers of Cyrenaica (a Greek colony on the North African shore, east of Tripoli, halfway to Egypt), although the Carthaginians later wrested it from the Greeks. By the latter half of the 2nd century BC it belonged to the Romans, who included it in their province of Africa, and gave it the name of "Regio Syrtica". Around the beginning of the 3rd century AD, it became known as the Regio Tripolitana, meaning "region of the three cities", namely Oea ("i.e.", modern Tripoli), Sabratha and Leptis Magna. It was probably raised to the rank of