• Research Paper on:
    Overview of Merriam's Shrew

    Number of Pages: 8

     

    Summary of the research paper:

    In eight pages this paper discusses Merriam's Shrew in an overview that includes physical description, its habitat, diet, and status as an endangered species. Nine sources are cited in the bibliography.

    Name of Research Paper File: LM1_TLCMshrw.rtf

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    a half inches in length and a tail that spans from one and one quarter inches to one and five-eighths. Pale gray in color on the top and light  on the underside, Merriams Shrew has a tail that incorporates two different colors. Interestingly, a total of thirty-two teeth fit into what is seemingly a relatively small mouth (Burt  et al, 1980, p. 6. It is part of the Insectivora order, description Insectivores and family: Soricidae (Streubel, 2000). A member of the subgenus Sorex, the diminutive, long-tailed shrew  also possesses "subgeneric characters of a postmandibular foramen" (Hoffmeister, 1986, p. 46), minus upper unicuspids with a pigmented ridge and fourth upper unicuspid smaller than third. The medial portion  of the shrews first upper incisors show the absence of tines, while "upper M3 situated medial to toothrow so that breadth across M3s narrow" (Hoffmeister, 1986, p. 46). Merriams  Shrews are plentiful in the Southwest region of the United States, particularly prominent in such places as Utah, Arizona and New Mexico, where eight different species are known to live.  Merriams Shrews differ somewhat from their counterparts by way of nose length and eye shape/size. Experts and novices alike often have considerable difficulty identifying each individual species, inasmuch  as they share so many common characteristics. With the exception of the water shrew, whose "striking black and white coloration" (Findley, 1987, pp. 31-34) make it one of the  more easily identifiable of all the shrews. In order to definitively identify Merriams Shrews, the upper teeth reflect the most distinguishable feature that separates it from the others, an  examination that is accomplished with the aid of a hand lens or microscope. What experts look for in the scrutiny is a row of unicuspids between the premolar and 

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