SORBX 29 



low, sub-quadrate in outline (except the much reduced third), the 

 paracone and metacone near middle of crown, the styles and 

 commissures well developed and forming an important functional 

 part of the cutting apparatus ; form mouse-like, but snout always 

 pointed and much produced beyond incisors, eyes small, and ears 

 often partly or entirely hidden in the fur. 



Bemarhs. — The members of the family Soricidse are at once 

 recognizable among European Insectivora by their mouse-like 

 form, small eyes, and sharply pointed muzzle. They are all of 

 small size, the largest (Neomys fodiens) not so large as a house- 

 mouse, while the smallest (Pachyura etrusca) is one of the least 

 of known mammals. Notwithstanding their manifestly primitive 

 general structure, the Soricidse present a very high degree of 

 specialization in the form of the anterior teeth, the absence of 

 the zygoma, and the remarkable double articulation of the jaw. 

 About fifteen genera are known. Four of these are represented 

 in Europe. 



KEY TO THE EUROPEAN GENERA OP SORIGIDM. 



Posterior lower molar with five cusps ; teeth pigmented 



at tips ; tail without sprinkling of elongated hairs. 



Upper unicuspid teeth 5-5 ; cutting edge of anterior 



lower incisor with more than one lobe ; feet not 



fringed Sorex, p. 29. 



Upper unicuspid teeth 4-4 ; cutting edge of anterior 

 lower incisor with one lobe ; feet fringed. (Water 



Shrews) Neomys, p. 65. 



Posterior lower molar with four cusps ; teeth white 

 throughout ; tail with noticeable sprinkling of 

 elongated hairs. 



Upper unicuspid teeth 4-4 Pachyura, p. 81. 



Upper unicuspid teeth 3-3 Crocidura, p. 86. 



Genus SOREX Linnaeus. 



1758. Sorex Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., i, 10th ed., p. 53. 



1829. Oxyrhin Kaup, Entw.-Gesch. u. Natiirl. Syst. Europ. Thierwelt, i, 



p. 119 (Included the undeterminable Sorex constrictus Hermann 



and S. tetragonurus Hermann; the latter may be chosen as type). 

 1835. Amphisorex Duvernoy, Mem. Soc. du Mus. d'Hist. Nat., Strasbourg, 



ii, p. 23 (hermanni = Neomys fodiens skull -f- Sorex araneus 



tetragonurus animal) Part. 

 1838. Oorsira Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1837, p. 123. June 14, 1837 



(vulgaris = araneus). 

 1842. Otisorex De Kay, Zool. of New York, I, Marnm., p. 22 (platyrhinus 



1857. Sorex Blasius, Saugethiere Deutschlands, p. 124. 

 1890. Somalurus Schulze, Schriften Naturwiss. Vereins Harzes in Werni- 

 gerode, v, p. 28 (alpinus). 



Type species. — Sorex araneus Linnaaus. 



Geographical distribution. — Northern portion of both hemi- 

 spheres ; in Europe west to Ireland and south to central Spain 

 and southern Italy. 



