Sorex glacialis Merriam, Proc. Washington Acad. Sci., 2:16, March 14, 1900, type from Point Gustavus, east side of entrance to Glacier Bay, Alaska.
S[orex]. alascensis, Merriam, Proc. Washington Acad. Sci., 2:18, March 14, 1900.
[Sorex glacialis] alascensis, Elliott, Field Columb. Mus. Publ. 45, zool. ser. 2:372, 1901.
Sorex alascensis alascensis, Miller, U. S. Nat. Mus. Bull., 79:16, December 31, 1912.
Type.—Adult female, skin and skull; No. 73539, U. S. Biol. Surv. Coll.; obtained on July 10, 1895, by C. P. Streator from Yakutat, Alaska.
Range.—The coast of southern Alaska from the vicinity of Juneau west to include eastern part of the Kenai Peninsula.
Diagnosis.—Size medium for the species; average and extreme measurements of 9 specimens from 9 mi. W and 4 mi. N of Haines, Alaska, are: total length, 110 (104-128); tail, 45.4 (41-52); hind foot, 14 (14-14). Color grayish brown.
Comparisons.—For comparison with S. v. longicauda and S. v. elassodon see accounts of those subspecies. Resembles S. v. obscurus in color but differs in larger skull, longer hind foot and in somewhat darker color. Larger and darker than S. v. shumaginensis; the two intergrade near the base of the Kenai Peninsula.
Remarks.—This subspecies is transitional between the large, usually dark subspecies of the southeastern Alaskan and British Columbian coast and islands, and the smaller, paler subspecies of western and interior Alaska. There seem to be no sharp breaks between alascensis and shumaginesis. North of Haines, Alaska, size of shrews decreases in a short distance across a narrow intergradational zone between alascensis and obscurus. Throughout most of its range S. v. alascensis occurs with Sorex cinereus.
Specimens examined.—Total number, 88.