Merriam's Shrew
Sorex merriami
Summary 3
Merriam's shrew (Sorex merriami) is a species of mammal in the family Soricidae. It is endemic to the western United States and southern British Columbia in Canada.
Merriam's shrews range in total length from 88 to 107 mm. They generally weigh between 4 and 7 g. The back is brown-gray or gray in color and the underside is white, as can be seen in the above pictures. Merriam's shrews can be confused with masked shrews since their sizes are similar. In the skull of S. merriami it is broader across the rostrum and the braincase compared to masked shrews. S. merriami also have a third upper unicuspid tooth that is larger than the fourth upper unicuspid which differentiates them from other shrews.
S. merriami can be found in Utah though they are not common. They may be found in the drier parts of Utah where sagebrush and grasslands are making Iron county a possible habitat.
Sources and Credits
- (c) Jeremy Yoder, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://www.flickr.com/photos/87484925@N00/3952186582
- (c) Jena Tapia, all rights reserved, uploaded by Jena Tapia
- Adapted by Jena Tapia from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sorex_merriami
