This record, as far as I can determine, constitutes a southward
extension of the known Pleistocene or Recent range of this species of
approximately 800 miles. The nearest known occurrence of _S. cinereus_
in Recent times is in the mountains of north-central New Mexico. The
species now has an extensive range in boreal North America and prefers
mesic and hydric communities from which it rarely wanders. I know of no
instance of the occurrence of the cinereous shrew in desert areas such
as there are between many of the mountain ranges of southern New
Mexico, Coahuila, and Nuevo León. Therefore, unless the habitat
preferences of the species have changed since Pleistocene times, this
find constitutes additional evidence that more humid conditions at one
time prevailed in the regions mentioned.
Sorex saussurei Merriam
Fragments of three other specimens of _Sorex_ occur in the collection.
One of these is a right ramus, C. I. T. No. 3943, and is complete
except for the canine. The other two bear no numbers and I have
designated them "A" and "B." "A" is a left ramus with the dentary
broken off anterior to the canine and bears p4 and the canine. "B" is a
right ramus bearing m2 and the roots of m3 and is broken off at the
middle of the alveolus of m1. Each specimen has certain peculiarities
but they resemble one another so closely that I regard all three as of
the same species. The teeth, where comparable, are of essentially the
same size and configuration. The horizontal rami of the dentaries are
the same. The fossils differ, however, in the configuration of the
coronoid process. In No. 3943 the coronoid is robust and inclined
anteriorly with respect to a line drawn perpendicular to the dentary.
The posterointernal ramal fossa (see Hibbard, 1953) is deeply excavated
with a distinct superior border approximately halfway between its
inferior border and the top of the coronoid. In addition to the
mandibular foramen there is a small foramen immediately posterior to it
opening into the posterointernal ramal fossa. I shall refer to this as
the post-mandibular foramen. The tip of the coronoid is broad, not
tapering, and quadrate, and its entire superior border is inclined
rather sharply medially. Specimen "B" differs from No. 3943 in that the
posterointernal ramal fossa extends nearly to the tip of the coronoid,
which is narrower toward the tip and somewhat tapered dorsally. The
post-mandibular foramen is large and the opening of the mandibular
canal is within the posterointernal ramal fossa. In addition the
coronoid does not incline anteriorly. Specimen "A" is intermediate
between No. 3943 and "B" in the characters mentioned and differs from
both in that the post-mandibular foramen is widely separated from the
mandibular foramen.
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