Sorex minutissimus Zimmermann 1780

• Main Authors: Russell A. Mittermeier, Don E. Wilson
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: unknown
• Published: Lynx Edicions 2018
• Subjects: Biodiversity; Taxonomy; Animalia; Chordata; Mammalia; Soricomorpha; Soricidae; Sorex; Sorex minutissimus; Sorex munutissimus; Kiya; Alaska; Siberia
• Online Access: https://zenodo.org/record/6869585; https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6869585

8. Eurasian Least Shrew Sorex munutissimus French: Musaraigne minuscule / German: Knirpsspitzmaus / Spanish: Musarana minima de Eurasia Other common names: Least Shrew, Least Siberian Shrew, Lesser Pygmy Shrew, Miniscule Shrew Taxonomy. Sorex minutissimus Zimmermann, 1780, Mariinsk (= Kiiskoe), (Kemerovo Region), bank of Kiya River, Siberia, Russia. Data from karyotypes and mtDNA, and nDNA sequences place S. minutissimus in the S. minutissimus group, although this group may be better included under the S. minutus group; further studies of all Sorex taxa are needed. An isolated population on the eastern slope of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, in the Gansu, Sichuan, and Yunnan provinces of China, needs further investigation to confirm that it belongs to this species. Eleven subspecies recognized. Subspecies and Distribution. S.m.minutissimusZimmermann,1780—WSiberianPlain. S.m.abnormisStroganov,1949—NKazakhstanandW&CAltai. S. m.barabensisStroganov,1956—forest-steppeandsteppeofWSiberia. S. m.caudataYudin,1964—KuznetskAlatau,Salair,andNWAltai. S. m.karelicusStroganov,1949—FennoscandiaandKarelia(Russia). S. m.neglectusOgnev,1921—EastEuropeanPlain. S. m.stroganoviYudin,1964—TuvaandSEAltaiMts. S. m.tscherskitOgnev,1913—lowlandoftheKhankaLake,PrimorskyKrai,RussianFarEast. S. m.tschuktschorumStroganov,1949—ESiberiaandChuckchiandKamchatkapeninsulas. S.m.ussuriensisOgnev,1921—Sikhote-AlinMts,PrimorskyKrai,RussianFarEast. S. m. yukonicus Dokuchaev, 1997 — Alaska. Also present in W Kazakhstan, Mongolia, NE China, Korean Peninsula, Japan (Hokkaido), and most of Russian Far East, but subspecies involved not known. Descriptive notes. Head—body 30-53 mm, tail 17-33 mm, hindfoot 7-9 mm; weight 1-4-4 g. Pregnant females can weigh more than 3 g. The Eurasian Least Shrew is one of the smallest species of Sorex. Rostrum is very short blunt. Tail is no longer than 50% of headbody length and is covered with rare long hairs that stick out;it is bicolored, with indistinct boundary between dark upper and light lower sides. Pelage is ...