The Alaska tiny shrew (''Sorex yukonicus'') is a species of
shrew
Shrews (family Soricidae) are small mole-like mammals classified in the order Eulipotyphla. True shrews are not to be confused with treeshrews, otter shrews, elephant shrews, West Indies shrews, or marsupial shrews, which belong to diffe ...
. It is
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...
to
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S ...
.
This species was formerly included under the description of the
Eurasian least shrew (''S. minutissimus'').
It was described as a separate species in 1997.
[Dokuchaev, N. E. (1997)]
A new species of shrew (Soricidae, Insectivora) from Alaska.
''Journal of Mammalogy'' 78(3), 811-17. It was named for the
Yukon River
The Yukon River ( Gwich'in: ''Ųųg Han'' or ''Yuk Han'', Yup'ik: ''Kuigpak'', Inupiaq: ''Kuukpak'', Deg Xinag: ''Yeqin'', Hän: ''Tth'echù'' or ''Chuu k'onn'', Southern Tutchone: Chu Nìikwän, russian: Юкон, Yukon) is a major watercour ...
.
[
This shrew occurs in central Alaska, and more recently it has been found in the southwestern part of the state. It always lives near rivers.][
]
References
Sorex
Fauna of Alaska
Mammals described in 1997
Endemic fauna of Alaska
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