Vol. 31, pp. 127-130 November 29, 1918 



PROCEEDINGS 



OF THE 



BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON 



TWO NEW SHREWS FROM OREGON. 

 BY HARTLEY H. T. JACKSON. 



The Biological Survey Collection contains several specimens 

 of two undescribed shrews from western Oregon. One of these 

 forms is a species similar to Sorex pacificus Coues, with which 

 it has long been confused. The other is a subspecies of obscurus, 

 and is intermediate in some respects between Sorex obscurus 

 setosus Elliot and Sorex obscurus bairdi Merriam. They may 

 be identified by the following description : 



Sorex yaquinae, sp. nov. 



Type, adult 9 , skin and skull, No. 73,051, U. S. National Museum, Bio- 

 logical Survey Collection, from Yaquina Bay, Oregon; collected July 18, 

 1895, by B. J. Bretherton. Original number 2031. 



General characters. — In color and general appearance much like Sorex 

 pacificus, but smaller and with shorter tail and feet. Skull decidedly 

 smaller in all dimensions than that of pacificus, with weaker rostrum, 

 noticeably shorter tooth row and relatively smaller dentition, particu- 

 larly second maxillary premolar; dental pigmentation darker than in 

 pacificus. Decidedly larger than Sorex obscurus bairdi, which it resembles 

 somewhat in color; skull larger and rather flatter than that of bairdi, 

 with heavier dentition, particularly prominent in the unicuspidate teeth 

 and first incisors. 



Color. — Winter pelage: Upperparts in general effect mummy brown* 

 or fuscous, tending slightly toward fuscous-black, paling almost imper- 

 ceptibly on the head and face; color of back continuing well down on 

 the sides and grading into color of underparts. Underparts slightly paler 

 than upperparts, near olive-brown or slightly darker; tail indistinctly 

 bicolor, hair-brown or drab above, light drab or avellaneous below; feet 

 and tarsi avellanous. Summer pelage : Distinctly more reddish than in 

 winter. Upperparts between Prout's brown and cinnamon brown, some- 



* Ridgway, R., Color standards and color nomenclature, 1912. 



33— Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash . , Vol. 31 , 1918 . (127 ) 



