Alaska water shrew

Alaska water shrew
Systematics
Superordinate :	Laurasiatheria
Order :	Insect eater (Eulipotyphla)
Family :	Shrews (Soricidae)
Subfamily :	Soricinae
Genre :	Red-toothed shrews ( Sorex )
Type :	Alaska water shrew
Scientific name
	Sorex alaskanus
	Merriam , 1900

Distribution area (green) of the Alaska water shrew

The Alaskan water shrew ( Sorex alaskanus ) is a rarely researched mammal from the genus of the red- toothed shrew (Sorex). It is only known of six specimens collected in 1899, 1900 and 1970. Their range is limited to Glacier Bay in Alaska .

features

The measurements refer to the type specimens, two males collected in 1899. The head-torso lengths are 80 and 88 mm, the tail lengths 65 and 72 mm and the hind foot lengths 18.5 and 19 mm. No specific data are available on weight. The Alaska water shrew is a large species of shrew that looks similar to the American water shrew ( Sorex palustris ). The back fur is dark black-brown, the peritoneum is lighter, silvery gray. The feet are big and wide. The hind feet are partially webbed and have small, white hairs that protrude on the sides. The long, two-tone tail is slightly flattened at the side. It is dark black-brown on the top and lighter on the bottom. The tip of the tail ends in a small tuft of fur. The Alaska water shrew is smaller than the other species of the Sorex palustris species group and has a more grooved skull. The teeth are pigmented dark red. There are five tooth cusps. The third is smaller than the fourth. The fifth is much smaller.

Systematics

The Alaskan water shrew was described by Clinton Hart Merriam in 1900 as the subspecies Sorex navigator alaskanus of the western water shrew . In 1903 it was classified by Joel Asaph Allen as a subspecies Sorex palustris alaskanus of the American water shrew. In 1928 Hartley HT Jackson raised it to species status. This was questioned in 1981 by Eugene Raymond Hall , who again considered it a subspecies of the American water shrew. In 1993 Rainer Hutterer gave it another species status based on comparisons of skulls with Sorex palustris and Sorex navigator .

Habitat and way of life

The Alaskan water shrew inhabits marshland and creek banks. Nothing is known about their way of life.

status

In June 1899, Albert Kenrick Fisher caught the two type specimens in the Cooper's Notch marshland behind Point Gustavus, Glacier Bay, Alaska. In March 1900, Malcolm P. Anderson collected two females and one male on the banks of Telegraph Creek. The last confirmed evidence was in 1970 when another specimen was collected at Bartlett Cove. Due to the controversial taxonomic status and lack of information about the population, the species is classified in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in the category of insufficient data ( data deficient ).

literature

JT Beneski, Jr., DW Stinson: Sorex palustris . American Society of Mammalogists, Mammalian Species 296, 1987, pp. 1-6.
Connor Burgin, Rudolf Haslauer, Kai He, Arlo Himckey, Stefan Hintsche, Rainer Hutterer , Paulina D. Jenkins, Masaharu Motokawa, Manuel Ruedi , Boris Sheftel and Neal Woodman: Soricidae (Shrews). Don E. Wilson and Russell A. Mittermeier (Eds.): Handbook of the Mammals of the World. Volume 8: Insectivores, Sloths, Colugos. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona 2018, pp. 332–551 ISBN 978-84-16728-08-4

Web links

Sorex alaskanus inthe IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2018.1. Listed by: Woodman, N., Reid, F. & Matson, J., 2008. Retrieved August 25, 2018.
Entry on NatureServe

Individual evidence

^ CH Merriam: Papers from the Harriman Alaska Expedition. I. Descriptions of twenty-six new mammals from Alaska and British North America. Proceedings of the Washington Academy of Science 2, 1900, pp. 13-30.
^ ^A ^b Joel A. Allen: Mammals collected in Alaska and northern British Columbia by the Andrew J. Stone Expedition of 1902 . Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, Vol. 19, Article 19, 1903, p. 567
↑ HHT Jackson: A taxonomic review of the longtailed shrews, genera Sorex and Microsorex. North American Fauna 51, 1928, pp. 1-238
^ ER Hall: The Mammals of North America. John Wiley and Sons, New York, 1981
^ Rainer Hutterer: Order Insectivora. In: DE Wilson and DM Reeder (eds.): Mammal Species of the World: a taxonomic and geographic reference . 2nd Edition. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington. 1993. pp. 69-130

[1] CH Merriam: Papers from the Harriman Alaska Expedition. I. Descriptions of twenty-six new mammals from Alaska and British North America. Proceedings of the Washington Academy of Science 2, 1900, pp. 13-30.

[Allen-2] A ^b Joel A. Allen: Mammals collected in Alaska and northern British Columbia by the Andrew J. Stone Expedition of 1902 . Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, Vol. 19, Article 19, 1903, p. 567

[3] HHT Jackson: A taxonomic review of the longtailed shrews, genera Sorex and Microsorex. North American Fauna 51, 1928, pp. 1-238

[4] ER Hall: The Mammals of North America. John Wiley and Sons, New York, 1981

[5] Rainer Hutterer: Order Insectivora. In: DE Wilson and DM Reeder (eds.): Mammal Species of the World: a taxonomic and geographic reference . 2nd Edition. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington. 1993. pp. 69-130