Shrew found by DSU faculty and students featured in national mammal holdings Posted on 10/2/2012
The Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History has recently verified the identification of a second specimen of Sorex merriami collected by the Dickinson State University Natural History Collection.
The specimen was captured in the summer of 2012 during the second year of field research associated with the North Dakota Game and Fish State Wildlife Grant which involved surveying prairie dog towns.The specimen represents only the third Merriam's shrew collected in the state of North Dakota and the second collected since 1913.
The first specimen has been cataloged and accessioned into the DSU Natural History Collection. This second specimen, because of its importance and it rarity, has been donated by the DSU NHC to the National Museum of Natural History for installation, preservation and inclusion among the national mammal holdings. It retains its DSU specimen sheets and tags to identify its point of origin.
