Sorex haydeni
Prairie Shrew
(Sorex haydeni) | |
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Range | |
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Taxonomic classification | |
Order: | Eulipotyphla |
Suborder: | Erinaceota |
Family: | Soricidae |
Subfamily: | Soricinae |
Tribe: | Soricini |
Genus: | Sorex |
Subgenus: | Otisorex |
Species group: | Sorex cinereus group |
Binomial details | |
Sorex haydeni S. F. Baird, 1858 |
Formerly considered a subspecies of Sorex cinereus, Sorex haydeni is very similar in appearance. Evidence of introgression between the Masked Shrew (Sorex cinereus) and Sorex haydeni exists, but the extent of introgression is not well understood. The map on the right represents the distribution (dark green) of Sorex haydeni based on Brunet et al. (2002), Hope et al. (2012) and A.G. Hope (personal communication on July 29, 2023). The green hash lines represent the possible range of Sorex haydeni based on A.G. Hope (personal communication on July 29, 2023). Brunet et al. (2002) recommends: "Future studies focusing on this introgression should use nuclear DNA (microsatellites) to examine the extent and timing of hybridization."
Description
From van Zyll de Jong (1983): "Similar to S. cinereus but smaller, with shorter tail; winter and summer pelage paler than in S. cinereus with a tendency to tricolour pattern especially in older adults, tail paler usually lacking the dark terminal tuft."
From Mittermeier & Wilson (2018): "The Prairie Shrew is small to medium in size, with brown dorsum, slightly paler sides, and whitish venter that is occasionally washed with yellow. Feet are pale. Tail is relatively short, narrow, and clearly bicolored, being brown above and whiter below; tail is tipped with brown hair tuft unlike in the Masked Shrew (S. cinereus) that has black tuft."
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 |
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Canada | Naughton (2012) | 77–101 | 25–38 | 9–12 | 7–8 | 2.0–5.0 (avg) |
Canada | Wilson & Ruff (editors, 1999) | 77–101 | 25–38 | 2–5 | ||
North Dakota | Seabloom et al. (2020) | 82 | 32 | 11 | 8 | |
not reported | Shaughnessy and Woodman (2015) | head and body: 28–64 (n=29) | 29–42 (n=29) | 10–13 (n=29) | 2.6–3.6 (n=4) | |
Wyoming | Wilson & Ruff (editors, 1999) | 88–99 | 34–40 | 3–5 |
Color variation
This section shows some of the color variation present in Sorex haydeni. The location is provided for reference only. The individual shown does not necessarily represent the only color variant within the local population.
Seasonal variation
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July (early), North Dakota, Stutsman County, adult male
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July (late), North Dakota, Stutsman County, adult female
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July (late), North Dakota, Stutsman County, adult female
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October (early), North Dakota, Stutsman County, subadult male
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October (early), North Dakota, Stutsman County, molting subadult male
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October (early), North Dakota, Stutsman County, adult male
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October (late), North Dakota, Stutsman County, subadult male
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October (late), North Dakota, Stutsman County, subadult male
Skull
Sorex haydeni skull characters | |
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units in mm | |
Skull | |
Condylobasal length: | 14.2–15.1 (n=10; van Zyll de Jong, 1976); 15.0–16.1 (French, 1980); 14.1–15.9 (Álvarez-Castañeda, 2024) |
Postmandibular canal: | Absent |
Dental | |
Upper unicuspids: | 5 |
Unicuspid notes: | U3≥U4 |
Tines present: | Yes |
From van Zyll de Jong (1983): "Skull smaller than that of S. cinereus with shorter, broader rostrum, lacrimal foramen and border of infraorbital foramen usually placed more anterior than in S. cinereus, above or before the mesostyle of M1, or at least tangential to a line drawn from the tip of the mesostyle perpendicular to the alveolar border. Unicuspids as in S. cinereus, but wider than long, and the unicsupid row more compressed and shorter; teeth in general more robust than those of cinereus — a high proportion has two pigmented areas on on the lower incisor, the first and larger including the tip and the first two cusps, the second including the third cusps."
From Mittermeier & Wilson (2018): "There are five unicuspids, fifth is minute, and first through fourth get slightly smaller from front to back."
Habitat and range
From Hope et al. (2012): "Sorex haydeni occupies grasslands of the northern and central prairies and to a lesser extent deciduous forest."
From Brunet et al. (2002): "Our trapping efforts focused on open grasslands, which are areas of potential overlap for these two species. Based on our trapping and localities of other specimens housed in the Bell Museum of Natural History, the distribution of Sorex cinereus and S. haydeni in Minnesota fits well with that observed by van Zyll de Jong and Kirkland (1989). Sorex haydeni is relatively rare in Minnesota and is restricted to western counties where prairie and grassland habitat predominate. Sorex cinereus extends across the state occupying wooded and open habitat. As van Zyll deJong and Kirkland (1989) found, we observed a broadscale overlap of distributions for the two species. In every county where we captured S. haydeni (as identified morphologically and genetically), we also captured S. cinereus. We recognize that within each county S. cinereus and S. haydeni populations might be segregated. However, the evidence we found for introgression suggests that in some areas the two species come into contact at least to breed." And, "The extent of this zone remains unclear, but with results from Stewart and Baker (1997), it might span Alberta, Minnesota and Iowa. Future studies focusing on this introgression should use nuclear DNA (microsatellites) to examine the extent and timing of hybridization."
Similar species
Formerly considered a subspecies of Sorex cinereus, Sorex haydeni is very similar in appearance. The two species may be impossible to differentiate based on external characters only. The two species can be differentiated genetically or by karyotype analysis; the karyotype of S. haydeni differs from that of S. cinereus in its diploid (64 vs. 66) and fundamental numbers (66 vs. 70) (Volobouev and van Zyll de Jong, 1994).
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Sorex haydeni -
Masked Shrew (Sorex cinereus)
References
Álvarez-Castañeda ST. 2024. Order Eulipotyphla. In Mammals of North America-Volume 1: Systematics and Taxonomy (pp. 397-513). Cham (Switzerland): Springer Nature Switzerland.
Baird SF. 1857. General Report upon the Zoology of the Several Pacific Railroad Routes. Part I. Mammals. A. P. Nicholson, Washington, 757 pp.
Brunet AK, Zink RM, Kramer KM, Blackwell-Rago RC, Farrell SL, Line TV, Birney EC. 2002. Evidence of introgression between masked shrews (Sorex cinereus), and prairie shrews (S. haydeni), in Minnesota. The American midland naturalist 147(1): 116-122.
Hope AG, personal communication, July 29, 2023: "Sorex haydeni may well be sympatric with S. cinereus through much of the Plains, but minimally, it occurs through sw [southwest] MB [Manitoba], AB [Alberta] in Canada, and likely the Dakotas."
Hope AG, Speer KA, Demboski JR, Talbot SL, Cook JA. 2012. A climate for speciation: rapid spatial diversification within the Sorex cinereus complex of shrews. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 64(3): 671-684.
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
Naughton D. 2012. The natural history of Canadian mammals. Toronto (ON, CA): University of Toronto Press.
Seabloom R, Hoganson JW, Jensen WF. 2020. The mammals of North Dakota. Fargo (ND, USA): North Dakota State University Press.
Shaughnessy Jr MJ, Woodman N. 2015. New records of Merriam’s Shrew (Sorex merriami) from western North Dakota. Check List 11(3): 1623-1623.
Stewart DT, Baker AJ. 1997. A phylogeny of some taxa of masked shrews (Sorex cinereus) based on mitochondrial-DNA, D-loop sequences. Journal of Mammalogy 78(2): 361-376.
van Zyll de Jong CG. 1976. A comparison between woodland and tundra forms of the common shrew (Sorex cinereus). Canadian Journal of Zoology 54(6): 963-973.
van Zyll de Jong CG. 1983. Handbook of Canadian mammals-marsupials and insectivores. National Museums of Canada, Ottawa, 1:1-210.
van Zyll de Jong CG, Kirkland Jr GL. 1989. A morphometric analysis of the Sorex cinereus group in central and eastern North America. Journal of Mammalogy 70(1): 110-122.
Volobouev VT, van Zyll de Jong CG. 1994. Chromosome banding analysis of two shrews of the cinereus group: Sorex haydeni and Sorex cinereus (Insectivora, Soricidae). Canadian Journal of Zoology 72(5): 958-964.
Wilson DE, Ruff S, editors. 1999. The Smithsonian Book of North American Mammals. Washington D.C. (USA): Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press.