Sorex saussurei, Merriam, 1892

Russell A. Mittermeier & Don E. Wilson, 2018, Soricidae, Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 8 Insectivores, Sloths and Colugos, Barcelona: Lynx Edicions, pp. 332-551 : 407

publication ID

https://doi.org/ 10.5281/zenodo.6870843

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6869658

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/3D474A54-A026-874A-FFF6-AC0A10D7F305

treatment provided by

Felipe

scientific name

Sorex saussurei
status

 

38. View Plate 15: Soricidae

Saussure’s Shrew

Sorex saussurei View in CoL

French: Musaraigne de De Saussure / German: Saussure-Spitzmaus / Spanish: Musarana de Saussure

Taxonomy. Sorex saussurei Merriam, 1892 View in CoL ,

“ Sierra de Colima , Jalisco, Mexico (alttude 8,000 feet [= 2438 m]),” but the type specimen tag has “Sierra Nevado,Jalisco.” Restricted by L. N. Carraway in 2007 to “latitude 19-55°N, longitude 103-63°W.”

Sorex saussurei seems to be closely related to S. mediopua, which it previously included. The saussurei group (also including S. altoensis and S. mediopua) is included in an unnamed subgenus of Sorex along with the trowbridgii group, the merriami group, the salvini group, and the veraepacis group and seems to be most closely related to the salvini group and the trowbridgii group. Sorex saussurei previously included S. salvini , S. mccarthyi, and S. madrensis before all three were recognized as distinct species in Guatemala; it also variously included S. emarginatus , S. veraepacis , S. altoensis, S. mediopua, and S. cristobalensis. Monotypic.

Distribution. Jalisco, Colima, Michoacan, México, Distrito Federal, Morelos and Puebla, SC Mexico. View Figure

Descriptive notes. Head-body 65-77 mm, tail 43-60 mm, ear 5 mm, hindfoot 14-16 mm; weight 6 g. Saussure’s Shrew is medium-sized. Dorsum is medium brown, and venter is grayish white. Tail is ¢.65% of head-body length and slightly bicolored, medium brown above and lighter below. Feet are light; ears are small and rounded. It has well-pigmented tines on their upper incisors; pigmentation on teeth is dark red. There are five unicuspids, third is a little smaller than fourth, and fifth is minute.

Habitat. High-elevation moist forests and corn and oat fields at elevations of 2100-3650 m.

Food and Feeding. No information.

Breeding. No information.

Activity patterns. No information.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. Saussure’s Shrew is relatively widespread but might be threatened by deforestation in specific areas.

Bibliography. Carraway (2007, 2014j), Cervantes et al. (2008), Cuaron et al. (2017), Esteva et al. (2010), Matson & Ordoénez-Garza (2017), Woodman et al. (2012).

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Mammalia

Order

Soricomorpha

Family

Soricidae

Genus

Sorex

Loc

Sorex saussurei

Russell A. Mittermeier & Don E. Wilson 2018
2018
Loc

Sorex saussurei

Merriam 1892
1892
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