106 Thomas W. French 



attributed the magnitude of difference between the Hickman, Putnam, 

 and Warren counties canonical cluster and either B. brevicauda or B. 

 carolinensis target clusters as representative of distinct species or species 

 hybrids. Although these results suggest that Blarina in central Tennessee 

 might be distinct from both B. brevicauda and B. carolinensis, their 

 correct identity will remain uncertain until more comparative material is 

 available. 



I produced (Fig. 2) a partial distribution map of Blarina using the 

 five cranial characters as species criteria. The most notable difference 

 between this and other distribution maps (Hall and Kelson 1959; Hand- 

 ley 1971; Graham and Semken 1976; Tate et al. 1980; and others) is the 

 south and westward extension of B. brevicauda (synonym = B. brevi- 

 cauda churchi) approximately 195 miles (314 km) from the mountains 

 of Georgia into the Piedmont of Alabama. Also indicated is a possible 

 disjunct population of B. brevicauda on both sides of the Chattahoochee 

 River, Barbour County, Alabama, and in Quitman and Stewart coun- 

 ties, Georgia. In Alabama the largest form was overlooked by Howell 

 (1921) because none of his specimens of Blarina came from the 

 Piedmont. 



Much of the southeastern distribution of these shrews approxi- 

 mates well established physiographic boundaries (see Fenneman 1938 

 and Hunt 1964 for descriptions of physiographic provinces). In North 

 Carolina the boundary between the two species roughly follows the 

 eastern edge of the mountains, but in South Carolina it extends south- 

 ward through the Piedmont and meets the Savannah River near the 

 center of this physiographic province. In Georgia and Alabama the 

 boundary closely follows the Fall Line, and in Alabama it swings north- 

 eastward along the south edge of the Great Valley (between the Pied- 

 mont and Ridge and Valley physiographic provinces). In Tennessee it 

 follows the western edge of the Smoky Mountains and appears to swing 

 around the southern edge of the Cumberland Mountains and south of 

 the Cumberland River. Although habitat features are often considerably 

 different in adjacent physiographic provinces, I know of no reason why 

 these features should limit the distribution of either form of Blarina. 



Blarina brevicauda was discovered at three localities south of the 

 Fall Line in Georgia and Alabama. There are few specimens (10), but 

 the three localities appear to represent a disjunct population separated 

 from the Piedmont populations by only about 25 air miles (40 km). The 

 only other known disjunct populations of large Coastal Plain Blarina 

 are B. brevicauda shermani on the Gulf coast of Florida and B. telma- 

 lestes in the Great Dismal Swamp of Virginia and adjacent North Carol- 

 ina. Two large specimens (U.S. National Museum #268977 and North 

 Carolina State Museum #2575) were also examined from the Coastal 

 Plain of North Carolina (Sampson and Columbus counties). These are 

 the only individuals examined from each of these two counties. The 



