Mammals taken Along the Alaska HighwayBaker, Rollin H. (Rollin Harold)
Science
Mammals taken Along the Alaska Highway
Baker, Rollin H. (Rollin Harold)
Mammals -- North America
Alcorn found the cinereous shrew at most of his trapping stations. It
was captured in mouse traps baited with "chewed" rolled oats; one was
taken in a trap baited with a grasshopper. Rand (1944:35) and Alcorn
each found this shrew to be one of the commoner mammals along the
Alaska Highway, but Alcorn did not find it to be so abundant as some
of the rodents in areas in which he trapped. The cinereous shrew was
taken principally in moist woodlands, grassy areas, and adjacent to
water. One female taken on July 18 was lactating.
Sorex cinereus streatori Merriam
Cinereous Shrew
_Sorex personatus streatori_ Merriam, N. Amer. Fauna, 10:62,
December 31, 1895. (Type from Yakutat, Alaska.)
_Sorex cinereus streatori_ Jackson, Jour. Mamm., 6:56,
February 9, 1925.
_Specimens examined._--Total 19, as follows: _Alaska_: E side Chilkat
River, 100 ft., 9 mi. W and 4 mi. N Haines, 10; 1 mi. S Haines, 5 ft.,
9.
_Remarks._--Average and extreme external measurements of the nine
adult specimens from 1 mile south of Haines are as follows: Total
length, 103 (98-105); tail, 45 (43-46); and condylobasal length, 16.2
(16.0-16.4). Corresponding measurements of an adult specimen (No.
1676, UKMNH) from Sitka, Alaska, are 108, 47, and 16.5. Measurements
of ten adult specimens from the Chilkat River, 9 miles west and 4
miles north of Haines, are 100 (91-106), 44 (40-50), 16.0 (15.5-16.5).
The slightly smaller average size of the latter specimens indicates a
trend toward the smaller _S. c. cinereus_, which occurs farther
inland. Skulls of some of the specimens from the Chilkat River have a
more slender rostrum than those of the specimens from 1 mile south of
Haines, and more nearly resemble _S. c. cinereus_ in this respect.
Evidently, as indicated by Jackson (1928:54), _S. c. streatori_
occupies only an extremely narrow strip of mainland in the vicinity of
Haines.
Sorex cinereus hollisteri Jackson
Cinereous Shrew
_Sorex cinereus hollisteri_ Jackson, Jour. Mamm., 6:55,
February 9, 1925. (Type from St. Michael, Alaska.)
_Specimens examined._--Two from _Alaska_: 1 mi. NE Anchorage, 100 ft.
_Remarks._--Both specimens of this pale subspecies were trapped, along
with six _Clethrionomys_ and one _Mus_, in a grassy area bordered on
one side by the road and on the other by a spruce forest. No. 21069,
[male]?, taken on August 21, is in molt, with one patch of new fur on
the rump and another along the midline of the nape and shoulders.
Sorex obscurus obscurus Merriam
Dusky Shrew
_Sorex obscurus_ Merriam, N. Amer. Fauna, 10:72, December 31, 1895.
(Type from near Timber Creek, altitude 8200 ft., Salmon River
Mountains, now Lemhi Mountains, 10 miles west of Junction, Lemhi
County, Idaho.)
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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