Sorex monticola

go to Sorex monticolus

Both spellings Sorex monticola and Sorex monticolus have been used widely, despite the intentions of C.H. Merriam, as stated by Woodman (2018). WhiskerWiki uses Sorex monticolus to align with the American Society of Mammalogists' Mammal Diversity Database.

Woodman (2018) states: "The name monticola, however, like any species-group name ending in -cola, is an invariable noun in apposition, which does not change gender (Woodman, 2012a). The suffix -cola means “dweller” or “inhabitant”; hence, monticola = “mountain dweller.” Merriam (1890:43) made this error when he first described the species as S. monticolus, but he subsequently corrected the spelling to S. monticola (Merriam, 1895b:69)."

American Society of Mammalogists Mammal Diversity Database (v1.12.1, accessed June 7, 2024) states: "the spelling is considered to end in -us here rather than -a since the specific epithet is an invariable noun, and although some authors view the original spelling as an error later correct to -a, but this emendation is only justified for names in prevailing use, which is not the case here (the -a spelling is much less common than the -us spelling); includes neomexicanus and previously included S. obscurus."

References

Mammal Diversity Database. 2023. Mammal Diversity Database (Version 1.12.1) [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10595931 DOI. Downloaded July 7, 2024.

Merriam CH, 1895b. Synopsis of the American Shrews of the Genus Sorex. North American Fauna 10:57–98: pls. 4–12.

Woodman N. 2012a. Taxonomic Status and Relationships of Sorex obscurus parvidens Jackson, 1921, from California. Journal of Mammalogy 93(3): 826–838.

Woodman, Neal (2018). American Recent Eulipotyphla: Nesophontids, Solenodons, Moles, and Shrews in the New World. Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press. Book. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.1943-6696.650