Speciation of the Wandering Shrew Part 6

_Sorex longicauda prevostensis_ Osgood, N. Amer. Fauna, 21:35, September 26, 1901.

_Sorex obscurus prevostensis_, Elliott, Field Columb. Mus.

Publ. 105, zool. ser. 6:450, 1905.

_Type._--Adult male, skin and skull; No. 100618, U. S. Biol. Surv.

Coll.; obtained on July 3, 1900, by W. H. Osgood from north end of Prevost Island (Kunghit Island on some maps) on coast of Houston Stewart Channel, Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia.

_Range._--Known only from the type locality.

_Diagnosis._--Size medium; measurements of two specimens from the type locality are: total length, 132, 142; tail, 53, 59; hind foot, 14, 15.

Color dark.

_Comparisons._--Larger and darker than _S. v. ela.s.sodon_. Resembles _S. v. longicauda_ but darker, tail relatively somewhat shorter on the average and rostrum relatively slightly broader.

_Specimens examined._--Total number, 14. BRITISH COLUMBIA: Prevost Island, Queen Charlotte Group, 14 BS.

=Sorex vagrans alascensis= Merriam

_Sorex obscurus alascensis_ Merriam, N. Amer. Fauna, 10:76, December 31, 1895.

_Sorex glacialis_ Merriam, Proc. Washington Acad. Sci., 2:16, March 14, 1900, type from Point Gustavus, east side of entrance to Glacier Bay, Alaska.

_S[orex]. alascensis_, Merriam, Proc. Washington Acad. Sci., 2:18, March 14, 1900.

_[Sorex glacialis] alascensis_, Elliott, Field Columb. Mus.

Publ. 45, zool. ser. 2:372, 1901.

_Sorex alascensis alascensis_, Miller, U. S. Nat. Mus. Bull., 79:16, December 31, 1912.

_Type._--Adult female, skin and skull; No. 73539, U. S. Biol. Surv.

Coll.; obtained on July 10, 1895, by C. P. Streator from Yakutat, Alaska.

_Range._--The coast of southern Alaska from the vicinity of Juneau west to include eastern part of the Kenai Peninsula.

_Diagnosis._--Size medium for the species; average and extreme measurements of 9 specimens from 9 mi. W and 4 mi. N of Haines, Alaska, are: total length, 110 (104-128); tail, 45.4 (41-52); hind foot, 14 (14-14). Color grayish brown.

_Comparisons._--For comparison with _S. v. longicauda_ and _S. v.

ela.s.sodon_ see accounts of those subspecies. Resembles _S. v.

obscurus_ in color but differs in larger skull, longer hind foot and in somewhat darker color. Larger and darker than _S. v.

shumaginensis_; the two intergrade near the base of the Kenai Peninsula.

_Remarks._--This subspecies is transitional between the large, usually dark subspecies of the southeastern Alaskan and British Columbian coast and islands, and the smaller, paler subspecies of western and interior Alaska. There seem to be no sharp breaks between _alascensis_ and _shumaginesis_. North of Haines, Alaska, size of shrews decreases in a short distance across a narrow intergradational zone between _alascensis_ and _obscurus_. Throughout most of its range _S. v.

alascensis_ occurs with _Sorex cinereus_.

_Specimens examined._--Total number, 88.

ALASKA: Orca, 1 BS; Montague Island, Prince William Sound, 2 BS; Yakutat, 8 BS; north sh.o.r.e Yakutat Bay, 2 BS; Yakutat Bay, 1 BS; E side Chilkat River, 100 ft., 9 mi. W and 4 mi. N Haines, 12 KU; 1 mi.

S Haines, 5 ft., 10 KU; 7 mi. SSE Haines, 10 ft., 2 KU; N end Sullivan Island, 10 ft., 6 KU; SE end Sullivan Island, 10 ft., 2 KU; Glacier Bay, 3 BS; Mendenhall River, 1 BS; Juneau, 36 BS.

BRITISH COLUMBIA: Sheslay River, 1 AMNH; headwaters Sheslay River, 1 AMNH.

_Marginal Records._--ALASKA: Valdez Narrows, Prince William Sound (Jackson, 1928:128); north sh.o.r.e Yakutat Bay; east side Chilkat River, 100 ft., 9 mi. W and 4 mi. N Haines. BRITISH COLUMBIA: Sheslay River (Jackson, 1928:128). ALASKA: Juneau; Glacier Bay; Montague Island, Prince William Sound (ibid.); Port Nell Juan (ibid.).

=Sorex vagrans shumaginensis= Merriam

_Sorex alascensis shumaginensis_ Merriam, Proc. Washington Acad. Sci., 2:18, March 14, 1900.

[_Sorex glacialis_] _shumaginensis_, Elliott, Field Columb.

Mus. Publ. 45, zool. ser. 2:373, 1901.

_Sorex obscurus shumaginensis_, Allen, Bull. American Mus.

Nat. Hist., 16:228, July 12, 1902.

_Type._--Adult male, skin and skull; No. 97993, U. S. Biol. Surv.

Coll.; obtained on July 17, 1899, by De Alton Saunders from Popof Island, Shumagin Islands, Alaska. (Measured by C. Hart Merriam and numbered 2210 in A. K. Fisher's catalog.)

_Range._--Southwestern Alaska from Seward Peninsula southeasterly to western part of Kenai Peninsula and southwesterly to the southwestern end of the Alaskan Peninsula.

_Diagnosis._--Size medium to small for the species; average and extreme measurements of 6 specimens from King Cove, Alaska, are: total length, 112.7 (107-118); tail, 48.3 (45-52); hind foot, 13.8 (13-14).

Tending toward the development of a tricolor pattern, the back darkest, the sides buffy, and the venter paler.

_Comparisons._--Paler and more definitely tricolored than _S. v.

obscurus_; also with relatively shorter palate, narrower rostrum and smaller teeth. For comparison with _S. v. alascensis_ see account of that subspecies.

_Remarks._--_S. v. shumaginensis_ occurs together with _Sorex cinereus_ over much of southwestern Alaska. Part of the range of _shumaginensis_ falls within the tundra of the Arctic Life-zone. This may be a partial explanation of the tricolored pattern of the animal.

_Sorex tundrensis_, _S. cinereus ugyunak_, and _S. cinereus haydeni_, shrews which dwell mostly in treeless areas, are markedly tricolored, or bicolored. _Sorex arcticus_, however, although tricolored, is found in forested areas.

_Specimens examined._--Total number, 340. ALASKA: Sawtooth Mts., Nome River, 2 AMNH; Nulato, 5 BS; St. Michaels, 1 BS; Bethel, 7 BS; Aniak, 1 BS; Skeventna River, 1 BS; 6 mi. WSW Snowshoe Lake, 1 KU; 1 mi. NE Anchorage, 1 KU; Tyonek River, 48 BS; Hope, 15 BS; Hope, Mts. near, 13 BS; Moose Camp, 3 AMNH; Kenai Peninsula, 24 AMNH; Kakwok River, 80 mi.

up, 1 BS; Kakhtul River, 5 BS; Kakwok, 3 BS; Goodnews Bay, 1 BS; Lake Aleknagik, 6 BS; Nus.h.a.gak River, 25 mi. above Nus.h.a.gak, 1 BS; Dillingham, 1 BS; Nus.h.a.gak Village, 15 BS; Homer, 1 AMNH; Kenai Mts., 37 AMNH; Seldovia, 24 AMNH; Barabor, 1 AMNH; Caribou Camp, 7 AMNH; Ugagik River, 3 BS; Becharof Lake, 8 BS; Cold Bay, 14 BS; Kanatak, Portgage Bay, 4 BS; Chignik, 6 BS; Moller Bay, 1 BS; Alaska Peninsula, near Popof Island, 6 AMNH; Frosty Peak, 15 BS; Morzhovoi Bay, 7 BS; Ungu Island, 3 BS; Sand Point, Popof Island, 45 AMNH; Popof Island, 3 BS.

_Marginal Records._--ALASKA: Nome River; Nulato; Kuskokwim River, 200 mi. above Bethel, Crooked Creek (Jackson, 1928:126); 6 mi. WSW Snowshoe Lake; Seldovia; mts. near Hope; Morhzovoi Bay; thence along coast to St. Michael.

=Sorex vagrans obscurus= Merriam

_Sorex vagrans similis_ Merriam, N. Amer. Fauna, 5:34, July 31, 1891, _nec. S. similis_ Hensel, Zeitschr. der Deutsch.

Geolog. Gesellsch., 7:459, 1855 (= _Neomys similis_).

_Sorex obscurus_ Merriam, N. Amer. Fauna, 10:72, December 31, 1895, new name for _Sorex vagrans similis_ Merriam.

_Sorex obscurus obscurus_, Miller, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., 79:15, December 31, 1912.

_Type._--Adult female, skin and skull; No. 23525/30943, U. S. Biol.

Surv. Coll.; obtained on August 26, 1890, by Vernon Bailey and B. H.

Dutcher from near Timber Creek, 8200 ft., Lemhi Mts., 10 mi. SSW Junction (now Leadore), Lemhi Co., Idaho.

_Range._--Mountainous interior of western North America from central Alaska east across Yukon and southwestern Northwest Territories to northeastern Alberta, south in the mountains through north-central and western Washington, Idaho, western Montana, Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado, into northern New Mexico.