Sorex (Sorex) minutus Linnaeus 1766

Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn, 2005, Order Soricomorpha, Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3 rd Edition), Volume 1, Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, pp. 220-311 : 292

Sorex (Sorex) minutus Linnaeus 1766

Sorex (Sorex) minutus Linnaeus 1766 , Syst. Nat., 12th ed., Part I: 73.

Type Locality: "Yenisei"; restricted by Pavlinov and Rossolimo (1987:15) to "Krasnoyarskii kr., Krasnoyarsk." According to Ellerman and Morrison-Scott (1951:47), Linnaeus' name is based on Laxmann's ms. of Sibir. Briefe, and the type locality is Barnaul, Russia .

Vernacular Names: Eurasian Pygmy Shrew.

Synonyms: Sorex (Sorex) becki Lehmann 1963 ; Sorex (Sorex) canaliculatus Ljungh 1806 ; Sorex (Sorex) carpetanus Rey 1971 ; Sorex (Sorex) exiguus Brink 1952 ; Sorex (Sorex) exilis Gmelin 1788 ; Sorex (Sorex) gymnurus Chaworth-Musters 1932 ; Sorex (Sorex) heptapotamicus Stroganov 1956 ; Sorex (Sorex) hibernicus Jenys 1838 ; Sorex (Sorex) insulaebellae Heim de Balsac 1940 ; Sorex (Sorex) kastchenkoi Johansen 1923 ; Sorex (Sorex) lucanius Miller 1909 ; Sorex (Sorex) melanderi Ognev 1928 ; Sorex (Sorex) minimus Geoffroy 1811 ; Sorex (Sorex) pumilio Wagler 1832 ; Sorex (Sorex) pumilus Nilsson 1844 ; Sorex (Sorex) pygmaeus Laxmann 1769 ; Sorex (Sorex) rusticus Jenys 1838 .

Distribution: Europe to Yenesei River and Lake Baikal, south to Altai and Tien Shan Mtns; populations of Nepal and China have been alternatively identified as minutus or thibetanus ; populations of Turkey and the Caucasus as minutus or volnuchini ; populations of Kashmir and N Pakistan as minutus , planiceps , or thibetanus .

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (lc).

Discussion: Subgenus Sorex , S. caecutiens group. Formerly included gracillimus and volnuchini , which are each now accepted as specifically distinct; see comments therein. Corbet (1978 c) included also planiceps and thibetanus ; but see Dolgov and Hoffmann (1977), Hoffmann (1996 a, b) and Hutterer (1979). The European populations of minutus were revised by Hutterer (1990, 1999). Karyotype has 2n = 42, FN = 56 ( Zima et al., 1998), but 2n = 40 and 36 in the Baltic islands +land and Gotland ( Fredga et al., 1995).