Sorex preblei, Jackson, 1922
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publication ID |
https://doi.org/ 10.5281/zenodo.6870843 |
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DOI |
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6869722 |
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persistent identifier |
https://treatment.plazi.org/id/3D474A54-A030-875C-FAF9-AE24142DF3F5 |
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treatment provided by |
Felipe |
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scientific name |
Sorex preblei |
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Preble’s Shrew
French: Musaraigne de Preble / German: Preble-Spitzmaus / Spanish: Musarana de Preble
Other common names: Malheur Shrew
Taxonomy. Sorex preblei H. H. T. Jackson, 1922 View in CoL ,
“ Jordan Valley , altitude 4,200 feet [= 1280 m], Malheur County, Oregon,” USA .
Sorex preblei is in the S. cinereus group and subgenus Otisorex. It seems to be sister to a clade including the Beringian clade, S. haydeni , and the south-western lineage in S. cinereus . Monotypic.
Distribution. Known from scattered records in the Columbia Plateau and N Great Plains of SC British Columbia (SE Canada), N & SE Washington, Oregon, WC Idaho, Montana, NE California, N Nevada, W Wyoming, and N Utah, although these populations are probably connected and additional collecting efforts are needed. View Figure
Descriptive notes. Head-body 44-57 mm, tail 28-38 mm, hindfoot 9-11 mm; weight 2-4 g. Preble’s Shrew is very small. Dorsum is grayish brown, with paler sides, and venteris silvery white. Feet are pale buffy, and tail is comparatively short, narrow, and bicolored, being brown above and whitish below. I' has deep interdenticular space. Teeth are pigmented dark red. There are five unicuspids, fifth is the smallest, and third is generally greater than or equal to fourth.
Habitat. Primarily arid sagebrush and sagebrush-steppe habitats but also conifer forests, dry bunchgrass habitats, other grassland habitats, and near marshes and wetlands at elevations of 1280-2750 m. Although primarily collected in sagebrush habitats, Preble’s Shrew is probably associated with dry open habitats in general.
Food and Feeding. Diet of Preble’s Shrew probably consists of soft-bodied invertebrates.
Breeding. Pregnant females and reproductive males have been captured in June-July in Oregon. Litters have 3-6 young (average 4-4). Female Preble’s Shrews probably have multiple litters each year.
Activity patterns. No information.
Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.
Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. Preble’s Shrew is rarely collected and known from relatively few scattered specimens over a wide distribution, which might be much larger and more connected than what is currently known; collecting efforts using pitfall traps are needed. Fossils are known from the Pleistocene of southern New Mexico.
Bibliography. Carraway (1995), Carraway & Verts (1999), Cassola (2016q), Cornely et al. (1992), Demboski & Cook (2003), Gitzen et al. (2009), Hoffmann & Fisher (1978), Hoffmann et al. (1969), Hope et al. (2012), Junge & Hoffmann (1981), Long & Hoffmann (1992), Nagorsen et al. (2001), Ports & George (1990), Tomasi & Hoffmann (1984), Williams (1984).
No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.
