Variation and taxonomic value of some mandibular characters in red-toothed shrews of the genus Sorex L. (Insectivora: Soricidae).

Abstract

Materials and methods 21 recent and four fossil species of shrews were studied. Most of them belong to the Palearctic group of the subgenus Sorex with the exception of one American species of this subgenus, S. trowbridgii Baird, 1857, which was also examined. Three Palearctic (S. camtscha-ticus Yudin, 1972, S. leucogaster Kuroda, 1933, and S. portenkoi Stroganov, 1956) and one Nearctic (S. va-grans Baird, 1857) representatives of the subgenus Otisorex were also analyzed. For each species a random sample of specimens from different localities was prepared (Appendix). The subadult specimens were preferred. The sex was not distinguished.