Sorex caecutiens Laxmann, 1788 . Nova Acta Acad. Sci. Petropoli, 1785, 3:285 [1788].

TYPE LOCALITY: Russia, Buryatskaya ASSR, SW shore of Lake Baikal (Pavlinov and Rossolimo, 1987:17) .

DISTRIBUTION: Taiga and tundra zones from E Europe to E Siberia, south to C Ukraine, N Kazakhstan, Altai Mtns, Mongolia, Gansu and NE China, to Korea and Sakhalin.

SYNONYMS: altaicus, annexas, araneoides, buxtoni, centralis, koreni, lapponicus, macropygmaeus, karpinskii, pleskei, rozanovi, tasicus, tungussensis.

COMMENTS: Subgenus Sorex . This species still offers many unsolved problems, along with the species of the tundrensis and arcticus groups. Names like annexus, cansulus, granarius, and shinto have been included in caecutiens in the past but are presently included in other species or treated as separate species; see Hoffmann (1987) for a discussion of problems. The European range was reviewed by Sulkava (1990).