| The St. Lawrence Island Shrew is named for the only geographic location in which it has been found, St. Lawrence Island in the Bering Sea, between Alaska and Siberia. It is the only shrew on the island, and it is common there. It has a brown back and paler sides, and is closely related to the Cinereus Shrew and the Pribilof Island Shrew. Details of the biology of the St. Lawrence Island shrew are not known. It and the Pribilof Island Shrew probably evolved from a common ancestor after the last Ice Age. During the Ice Age all the islands in the Bering Sea were probably connected. As the ice melted and the sea level rose, some became separate islands, and over millions of years, the shrews living on them evolved into separate species.
Also known as:
St. Lawrence Shrew
Sexual Dimorphism:
None
Length:
Average:
101 mm
Range:
94-107 mm
Weight:
Range:
4-5 g
References:
Hall, E. R., and R. M. Gilmore, 1932. New mammals from St. Lawrence Island, Bering Sea, Alaska, p.392. University of California Publications in Zoology, 38:391-404.
Links:
Mammal Species of the World
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