LII. 

 The Short-tailed Shrew or Mole-shrew. 



Blarina brevicauda (Say). 



{Blarina, a name made up by Gray in 1837; brevicauda, from L. brevis, short, and 

 Cauda, a tail.) 



Sorex hrcvtcaudus Say, 1823, Long's Exp. Rocky Mts., I, p. 



164. 

 Blarina brevicauda Baird, 1 857, Mam. N. A., pp. 42-45. 

 Type Locality. — Near Blair, Neb. 



French Canadian, la Taupe Musaraigne. 

 OjiB. & Cree, Kin'-skee-sha-wah-vjah-bee-gah-note'- 

 see (sharp-nosed, short-tailed Field-mouse). 



The genus Blarina (Gray, 1837) differs from Sorex 

 exteriorly in its much shorter tail. The latter is about one-fourth 

 the length of the head and body. The tooth formula is as in 

 Sorex, but the relative proportions of the unicuspids are differ- 

 ent; the first two are very large, and the next two much smaller. 

 The fifth unicuspid, that is, the canine, or sixth tooth from the 

 front, is so small as to be hard to see. These peculiarities are 

 very marked in Blarina brevicauda (see Fig. 253 and Plate C). 



In total length it is about 5 inches (127 mm.). Tail 

 vertebrae, i inch (25 mm.); hind-foot, | inch (16 mm.). It 

 is largest in the type region, and smaller in the northern, 

 southern, and eastern parts of its range, and especially so on 

 the Atlantic coast. 



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