Constantine S. Rafinesque described Sorex dichrurus as a shrew in 1833, based on a specimen he found in a proprietary museum near Niagara Falls on the New York/Ontario border. The name subsequently has been ignored by the scientific community. By describing this specimen as a shrew and ascribing it to the genus Sorex, Rafinesque clearly indicated that his species should be considered a member of the taxonomic family now recognized as the Soricidae (Mammalia, Eulipotyphla). Yet, the description of the animal, and its comparison to "Gerbillus," clearly identify it as a dipodid rodent, specifically Zapus hudsonius (Zimmermann, 1780); S. dichrurus should be treated as a junior subjective synonym of that taxon. Based on its type locality of Goat Island, New York, this name is also a junior synonym of the subspecies Z. hudsonius canadensis (Davies, 1798).
CITATION STYLE
Woodman, N. (2012). This shrew is a jumping mouse (Mammalia, Dipodidae): Sorex dichrurus Rafinesque, 1833 is a synonym of Zapus hudsonius (Zimmermann, 1780). Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, 125(3), 308–316. https://doi.org/10.2988/12-05.1
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