Sorex merriami Dobson 1890
Creators: name: Mittermeier, Russell A.
name: Wilson, Don E.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2018
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Mammalia
Soricomorpha
Soricidae
Sorex
Sorex merriami

description: 35. Merriam’s Shrew <i>Sorex merriami</i> <b>French:</b> Musaraigne de Merriam / <b>German:</b> Merriam-Spitzmaus / <b>Spanish:</b> Musarana de Merriam <b>Taxonomy.</b> Sorex merriami Dobson, 1890, “ Fort Custer [=Hardin, Big Horn Co.], Montana.” Sorex merriami is included in the merriami group in an unnamed subgenus of Sorex along with S. arizonae. Fossils of S. merriami have been recorded from Moonshiner and Middle Butte caves in south-eastern Idaho with remains of S. monticolus, S. nanus, and S. haydeni. Monotypic. <b>Distribution.</b> Extreme SW Canada (extreme S British Columbia) and W USA (E Washington, E Oregon, California, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, SW North Dakota, W South Dakota, W Nebraska, Nevada, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico). <b>Descriptive notes.</b> Head-body 48-69 mm, tail 30-42 mm, ear 7 mm, hindfoot 11-14 mm; weight 3-7 g. Merriam’s Shrew is small, externally similar to the Arizona Shrew (S. arizonae) although it is slightly smaller. Dorsum is pale gray-brown, and venter is whitish. Feet are whitish; ears are small and rounded but relatively conspicuous. Tail is ¢.60% of head-body length and indistinctly bicolored, being pale brown above and whitish below. There are five unicuspids, third is greater than or equal to the size of the fourth, and there is dark red pigmentation on tips of some teeth. Unlike the Arizona Shrew, Merriam’s Shrew does not have interdenticular spaces or tines. <b>Habitat.</b> Various grassland and shrubland habitats such as sagebrush scrub, pinyon-Juniper woodland, mountain mahogany shrublands, spruce-aspen woodlands (in New Mexico), and mixed woodlands. Unlike most shrews, Merriam’s Shrew generally uses drier habitats with fewer moist areas. <b>Food and Feeding.</b> Merriam’s Shrews feed primarily on invertebrates and caterpillars, making up large proportion of diets during warmer months. Stomach samples of eleven specimens contained spiders, adult and larval beetles, cave crickets, larval lepidopterans, and ichneumonid wasps, indicating that they forage on the ground and possibly arboreally (as indicated by wasps and larval lepidopterans). <b>Breeding.</b> Reproduction of Merriam’s Shrews seems to occur primarily in March—-October because pregnant and lactating females have been captured in March, April, July, and October.Litters have 5-7 young, based on three records. <b>Activity patterns.</b> Merriam’s Shrews are active day and night. They often use runways and burrows of microtine rodents and other small rodents to move around and nest. <b>Movements, Home range and Social organization.</b> Merriam’s Shrews are solitary except when breeding and rearing young. <b>Status and Conservation.</b> Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. Merriam’s Shrew has a very large distribution, but grasslands and shrublands that they rely on throughout the distribution are being converted to agriculture or altered by overgrazing. <b>Bibliography.</b> Armstrong &amp; Jones (1971), Benedict et al. (1999), Benson &amp; Bond (1939), Brown (1967), Cassola (20160), Diersing &amp; Hoffmeister (1977), George (1988), Hafner &amp; Stahlecker (2002), Johnson &amp; Clanton (1954), Lindsay &amp; Perry (1977), Mullican (1986), Mullican &amp; Carraway (1990), Shaughnessy &amp; Woodman (2015), Verts &amp; Carraway (1988).
description: Published as part of <i>Russell A. Mittermeier &amp; Don E. Wilson, 2018, Soricidae, pp. 332-551 in Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 8 Insectivores, Sloths and Colugos, Barcelona :Lynx Edicions</i> on page 406, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6870843