Chromosome studies on common shrews from northern and central parts of European Russia

We report here on the karyotypes of 29 common shrews from 8 sites in northern and central European Russia. A new chromosome race far the species was found in the northernmost locality sampled and is named the Petchora race (gi, hn, jl, kq, mo, pr). It is only known from the type site. Shrews from other localities belonged to races that have already been described, but the new data help to define their ranges. In particular, our new samples demonstrate that the Manturovo race is a widespread form within northern European Russia. Two shrews from Zvenigorod belonged to the 'Moscow race' as listed in Zima et al. (1996), casting doubt on the existence of the 'Zvenigorod race' as a separate entity.