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Blarina peninsulae

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The Everglade's Short-tailed Shrew is a species of shrew endemic to Florida. Originally considered a subspecies of Blarina carolinensis, Hutterer (2005) recognized it as a distinct species based on morphology and karyotype (Woodman 2018).

Everglades Short-tailed Shrew
(Blarina peninsulae)
Range
Taxonomic classification
Order:Eulipotyphla
Suborder:Erinaceota
Family:Soricidae
Subfamily:Soricinae
Tribe:Blarinini
Genus:Blarina
Binomial details
Blarina peninsulae Merriam, 1895

Description

From Mittermeier & Wilson (2018): "The Everglades Short-tailed Shrew is large, similar to the Southern Short-tailed Shrew (B. carolinensis) but averages slightly larger in size and cranial measurements than Southern Short-tailed Shrews from northern Florida. Pelage of the Everglades Short-tailed Shrew is short, soft, velvety, and mole-like. Dorsal pelage is slate grayish black, with silvery tinge; ventral pelage is slightly paler. There is a bare patch of lightly colored skin around diminutive eyes. Ears are very small and completely concealed by fur; vibrissae are long and white. Tail is less than 30% of head-body length, hairy, and similar in color to dorsal pelage, with small tuft at end. Feet are short and broad, with long claws, and are paler than rest of body. Hindfeet are darker than forefeet. Females have three pairs of inguinal mammae."

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External measurements

Length measurements are in millimeters (mm) and weight measurements are in grams (g), unless stated otherwise. If available, the sample size (n=) is provided. If a range is not provided and n= is not given, then the listed measurement represents an average.

Part of range Reference Total length Tail length Hindfoot length Ear length Mass
Florida Mittermeier & Wilson (2018) head and body: 66–76 18–26 11–14 5–13


Skull

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Similar species

Where the range of B. peninsulae overlaps with other smaller Blarina species, identification using external characters may be difficult.

Taxonomy notes

From Woodman (2018): "Formerly treated as a subspecies of Blarina carolinensis (McCay, 2001; Benedict et al., 2006). Blarina peninsulae has a distinct karyotype (2N = 50–52, FN = 52) and morphology (George et al., 1982; Genoways and Choate, 1998), leading Hutterer (2005:270) to recognize it as a distinct species."

References

Benedict RA, Genoways HH, Choate JR. 2006. Taxonomy of short-tailed shrews (genus Blarina) in Florida. Mammalogy Papers: University of Nebraska State Museum, p.103.

Genoways HH, Choate JR. 1998. Natural history of the southern short-tailed shrew, Blarina carolinensis. Occasional Papers of the Museum of Southwestern Biology 8:1-43.

George SB, Genoways HH, Choate JR, Baker RJ. 1982. Karyotypic relationships within the short-tailed shrews, genus Blarina. Journal of Mammalogy, 63(4), pp.639-645.

Hutterer R. 2005. Order Soricomorpha. In Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, 3rd ed., ed. D. E. Wilson and D. M. Reeder, pp. 220–311. Baltimore (MD, USA): Johns Hopkins University Press.

McCay TS. 2001. '’Blarina carolinensis. Mammalian Species, 2001(673), pp.1-7.

Merriam CH. 1895. Revision of the shrews of the American genera Blarina and Notiosorex (No. 10-15). US Government Printing Office.

Mittermeier RA, Wilson DE (2018): Soricidae. In: Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 8 Insectivores, Sloths and Colugos. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions: 332-551, ISBN: 978-84-16728-08-4, DOI: http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6870843

Woodman N. 2018. American Recent Eulipotyphla; Nesophontids, solenodons, moles, and shrews in the New World. Washington D.C. (USA): Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press.

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