Southeastern Shrew Essay

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The Southeastern Shrew The Southeastern Shrew, Sorex longirostris, is taxonomically placed in the order Insectivore, while it is placed in the family Soricidae and subfamily Soricinae. The genus for the Southeastern shrew is Sorex while the species is longirostris. It is closely related to the Masked Shrew, Sorex cinereus. (Whitaker, 2004) Southeastern Shrews are mainly dark brown on top and a lighter brown on the bottom. They can range anywhere from 68.0 to 94.0mm. (French, 1980) A unique characteristic found in one study of this species showed that this mammal decreased in size based on its geographical distribution with the larger species being located in the northern territory of its range. (French, 1980) Other closely related species are usually a lighter color brown than the Southeastern Shrew. This species also has different coats of fur for different times of the year. During the summer the coat is thin and short and as the year goes on the fur spreads from the anterior portion of the shrew down through the body to the rump. Another way to identify the Southeastern Shrew is by the dental formula which is i 3/1, c 1/1, pm 3/1, m 3/3 for a total of 32 teeth. (French, 1980) The Southeastern Shrew is distributed mainly in the Southeastern United States but it has been located as far north as Illinois. Researchers say that it mainly lives east of the Mississippi River but records of this species have shown up in Arkansas and recently there have been reports of it in Missouri. (French, 1980) There have been no fossil records show up of this species but there is a report of 51 elements being found from 27 different species in a deposit found in Illinois. These elements were traced back to 10,000 to 1,000 B.C. (French, 1980) The Sorex longirostris has been found in many different types of habitat. It is believed that the most preferred

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