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Merriam's shrew
Sorex merriami
NatureServe conservation status
Global (G-rank): G4
State (S-rank): S3
External links
Species range
Of the the six known localities for this species in Utah, five are in the southern quarter of the state (Beaver, Piute, and San Juan counties) and one is in extreme north-central Utah (Rich County). However, it is hypothesized that the species occurs throughout the state (see map in Hall 1981), which hypothesis is supported by the fact that the species is known from every state that adjoins Utah (see Diersing and Hoffmeister 1977).
Strangely, Junge and Hoffmann (1981) erroneously mapped the range of this species as including all of Utah except the extreme southern and southeastern portion, the very area that includes two of the three well-known, published Utah localities (i.e., Benson 1935, Durrant and Lee 1955). These two localities that fall within the area that Junge and Hoffmann (1981) excluded from the range of this species had, at the time of Junge and Hoffmann's publication, even been repeated in secondary sources (e.g., Armstrong and Jones 1971, Diersing and Hoffmeister 1977), and one of these secondary sources--Diersing and Hoffmeister (1977), which names and maps both of the San Juan County localities--was even cited by Junge and Hoffmann in their work.
Habitat
Individuals have been captured in dry mountain shrub habitat (Benson 1935), a dry mountain meadow of grasses and sedges (Durrant and Lee 1955), and sagebrush- and grass-dominated habitats (Jensen 1965). Dry sagebrush associations are considered to be typical habitat for this species by Armstrong and Jones 1991). Some of the individuals captured in the state have been found in rodent runways (Benson 1935, Durrant and Lee 1955).
Threats or limiting factors
Threats to this species in Utah are not known. In their report on this species in Utah, Durrant and Lee (1955), however, made the interesting comment: "Perhaps the rarity of Merriam shrews might be the result of extensive overgrazing of western range lands. This is somewhat indicated by the fact that our two specimens were from a protected non-grazed locality."
