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The variability of five mandibular characters of the long-tailed shrews of the genus Sorex (the position of mental foramen, the structure of mandibular/postmandibular foramina complex, the structure of condyloid process, the pattern of pigmentation of the first lower incisor i1, and the color of tooth pigment) was examined. It is shown that each of these features is characterized by a specific level of variation. It should take into account in identifying and in the formulation of taxonomic hypotheses. On the basis of the obtained data the assumption of a specific taxonomic position of S. trowbridgii and S. mirabilis in relation to the traditionally recognized subgenera Sorex and Otisorex was made.
KEY WORDS: Sorex, taxonomy, morphology, paleontology.
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