The Alaska tiny shrew (''Sorex yukonicus'') is a species of

shrew Shrews (family Soricidae) are small mole-like mammals classified in the order Eulipotyphla. True shrews are not to be confused with treeshrews, otter shrews, elephant shrews, West Indies shrews, or marsupial shrews, which belong to different fa ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

. This species was formerly included under the description of the

Eurasian least shrew The Eurasian least shrew (''Sorex minutissimus''), also called the lesser pygmy shrew, is the second-smallest mammal by mass after the Etruscan shrew. Appearance The Eurasian least shrew weighs only and has a body less than long, with a tai ...

(''S. minutissimus''). It was described as a separate species in 1997.Dokuchaev, N. E. (1997)
A new species of shrew (Soricidae, Insectivora) from Alaska.
''Journal of Mammalogy'' 78(3), 811-17. It was named for the

Yukon River The Yukon River (Gwichʼin language, Gwich'in: ''Ųųg Han'' or ''Yuk Han'', Central Alaskan Yup'ik language, Yup'ik: ''Kuigpak'', Inupiaq language, Inupiaq: ''Kuukpak'', Deg Xinag language, Deg Xinag: ''Yeqin'', Hän language, Hän: ''Tth'echù' ...

. This shrew occurs in central Alaska, and more recently it has been found in the southwestern part of the state. It always lives near rivers. This species has tricolored fur in varying shades of gray.

References

Sorex Fauna of Alaska Mammals described in 1997 Endemic fauna of Alaska {{redtoothed-shrew-stub