Distribution of the Southeastern Shrew, 
Sorex longirostris Bachman, in Western Virginia 
John F. Pagels 
Department of Biology, 
Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia 23284 
AND 
Charles O. Handley, Jr. 
Division of Mammals, 
U.S. National Museum of Natural History, 
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C. 20560 
ABSTRACT . — A two-year study of the distribution and abundance 
of shrews was conducted in Virginia. Pitfall traps (1508 in all) were 
placed at 140 localities scattered around the state. Sorex longirostris 
(73 specimens) was caught at 33 of the 107 localities within its potential 
range (at 65% of Piedmont, 40% of Blue Ridge, 37% of Coastal Plain, 
and 1 1% of Ridge and Valley localities). Other specimens were found 
in museums and in bottles discarded along roadways. Altogether, 48 new 
localities can be added to the compilation of Pagels et al. (1982) of 
collecting sites of S. longirostris in Virginia. In the eastern lowlands S. 
longirostris frequented all habitats sampled. In the mountains it was 
caught mostly in fields and borders. Trapping results indicate that the 
species reached the Valley of Virginia through several gaps in the Blue 
Ridge, and that it reached southwestern Virginia through the Tennessee 
Valley. Sorex longirostris was captured with five of the other eight 
shrews known to occur in Virginia. It was not caught with S. cinereus, 
and its distribution west of the Blue Ridge may be limited by the 
presence of that species. The two exhibit contiguous allopatry, with S. 
longirostris below 457 to 610 m (depending on latitude) and S. cinereus 
above that elevation. 
When we (Pagels et al. 1982) summarized the distribution of Sorex 
longirostris in the Mid-Atlantic States, we questioned earlier reports of 
a nearly statewide distribution in Virginia. We believed that this shrew 
does in fact occur throughout the Coastal Plain and Piedmont lowlands 
in Virginia (except on the Eastern Shore), but, although we reported it 
west of the Blue Ridge in Page and Warren counties, we doubted that it 
is widespread in the mountainous sections of the state. Specimens from 
Giles County (Odum 1944) had been shown to have been misidentified 
(French 1980a), and specimens from other montane counties, 
Montgomery (Handley and Patton 1947) and Augusta (Bruce 1937), 
Brimleyana No. 15:123-131, January 1989 
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