Sorex minutus Linnaeus 1766

• 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 minutus; taiga; Tundra; Siberia
• Online Access: https://zenodo.org/record/6869634; https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6869634

28. Eurasian Pygmy Shrew Sorex minutus French: Musaraigne pygmée / German: Zwergspitzmaus / Spanish: Musarana enana de Eurasia Other common names: Pygmy Shrew Taxonomy. Sorex minutus Linnaeus, 1766, “Sibiria.” Restricted by I. Ya. Pavlinov and O. L. Rossolimo in 1987 to Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, Russia. Evidence from mtDNA and nDNA sequencesclassifies S. minutus in the minutus group. Six subspecies recognized. Subspecies and Distribution. S.m.minutusLinnaeus,1766—fromIrelandandtheBritishIsEthroughmostofEuropeandSiberiatoSWYakutia(=SakhaRepublic). S.m.beckiLehmann,1963—Alps. S.m.carpetanusRey,1971—IberianPeninsula. S.m.gymnurusChaworth-Musters,1932—SBalkanPeninsula. S.m.heptapotamicusStroganov,1956—ETianShan,KalbinskyAltai,andDzungarianAlatau. S. m. lucanius G. S. Miller, 1909 — Italian Peninsula. Descriptive notes. Head—body 40-64 mm,tail 33-45 mm, hindfoot 9-12 mm; weight 2-6-7 g. Tail of the Eurasian Pygmy Shrew is 70-75% of head-body length; tails of most subspecies are noticeably narrowed at bases and covered with long hairs that lie tight against skin and form distincttufts at tips. Pelage is bicolored. In juveniles, back is brownish gray, and belly is light gray. Dark back color often extends far onto sides; border between back and belly is not sharp. In adults, brown to dark brown pelage of back is more intense. Belly of adults is darker than in juveniles, sometimes with pale yellowish tint. Tail is sharply bicolored. Chromosomal complement has 2n = 42 and FN = 56, with seven pairs of metacentric and 13 pairs of acrocentric autosomes. Xchromosome is large acrocentric, and Y-chromosomeis small acrocentric. Populations with other chromosome numbers are found on Baltic islands: e.g. n = 40 on Oland and n = 36 on Gotland. Habitat. Forest-tundra, taiga, broad-leaved forests, forest-steppe, and steppe. The Eurasian Pygmy Shrew might also occur in grassy bogs, wet meadows, deciduous forests, dry pine stands, desolated waste grounds with sagebrush, and even sandy dunes. Coniferous forests with moss-covered floors and ...