University of Kansas Publications
Museum of Natural History

Volume 7, No. 14, pp. 613-618
June 10, 1955

Taxonomy and Distribution
of Some American Shrews

BY

JAMES S. FINDLEY

University of Kansas
Lawrence
1955

University of Kansas Publications, Museum of Natural History

Editors: E. Raymond Hall, Chairman, A. Byron Leonard,
Robert W. Wilson

Volume 7, No. 14, pp. 613-618
Published June 10, 1955

University of Kansas
Lawrence, Kansas

PRINTED BY
FERD VOILAND, JR., STATE PRINTER
TOPEKA, KANSAS
1955

25-7329

Taxonomy and Distribution
of Some American Shrews

by James S. Findley

Sorex cinereus ohionensis Bole and Moulthrop.—In their description of this subspecies from Ohio, Bole and Moulthrop (1942:89-95) made no mention of specimens in the United States Biological Surveys Collection from Ellsworth and Milford Center, Ohio, which stand in the literature (see Jackson, 1928:49) as Sorex cinereus cinereus. These two localities lie south of the geographic range ascribed to S. c. ohionensis by Bole and Moulthrop. Examination of the two specimens, United States Biological Surveys Collection, Catalogue No. 70566, and United States National Museum, No. 19434, respectively, both of which are alcoholics, reveals that they are referable to the subspecies ohionensis rather than to S. c. cinereus. This reference is made on the basis of small size, short tail (33 and 31 millimeters, respectively), and fourth upper unicuspid as large as third (the specimen from Milford Center lacks the skull). The occurrence at Milford Center provides a southward extension of known range for S. c. ohionensis of approximately 70 miles. S. c. cinereus seems not to occur in Ohio.

Cryptotis micrura (Tomes).—Davis (1944:376) assigned a Cryptotis from Boca del Río, Veracruz, to Cryptotis parva berlandieri (Baird). Comparison of this specimen, Texas Cooperative Wildlife Collections, No. 2765, with 8 specimens of C. micrura from various parts of northern Veracruz and with 9 C. parva from southern Tamaulipas reveals that the shrew from Boca del Río is referable to Cryptotis micrura. The series of 8 specimens in the University of Kansas Museum of Natural History from Altamira, Tamaulipas, provides the southernmost known record of Cryptotis parva berlandieri. These 8 specimens are typical of C. p. berlandieri and show no approach to C. micrura. Average and extreme cranial measurements of 7 specimens from 1 mi. S Altamira are: condylobasal length, 15.6 (15.2-16.1); palatal length, 6.6 (6.4-6.7); maxillary tooth-row, 5.7 (5.4-5.8); cranial breadth, 7.6 (7.4-8.0); least interorbital breadth, 3.5 (3.4-3.7); maxillary breadth, 5.0 (4.8-5.2). Cranial measurements of 8 specimens of C. micrura from various localities in northern Veracruz (1 km. E Mecayucan, 1; 7 km. NNW Cerro Gordo, 3; Teocelo, 2; 7 km. W El Brinco, 1; 5 km. N Jalapa, 1) are: condylobasal length, 17.1 (16.6-17.4); palatal length, 7.1 (6.9-7.4); maxillary tooth-row, 6.2 (5.9-6.4); cranial breadth, 8.5 (8.3-8.6); least interorbital breadth, 3.7 (3.6-4.1); maxillary breadth, 5.3 (5.1-5.6). C. parva and C. micrura may intergrade but a distance of 140 miles separates the geographic ranges as now known of the two kinds and every specimen examined by me is clearly referable to one