First record of the Holarctic least shrew (Sorex minutissimus) and associated helminths from Canada: new light on northern Pleistocene refugia

Abstract

We report the first Canadian record of the Holarctic least shrew (Sorex minutissimus Zimmermann, 1780) and associated helminth worms, collected along the Dempster Highway in central Yukon in 2014. We identify the specimen based on morphological characters, characterize the habitat, report other mammals and helminth species associated with this specimen, and use mitochondrial DNA sequences to place the specimen within a phylogenetic context and address Pleistocene refugial hypotheses. Although long considered an Eurasian endemic, the diminutive least shrew was first reported from Alaska in 1994. Our new record for Canada indicates that the species may occur at least as far east as the MacKenzie River and DNA variation suggests this species persisted only in the Beringian refugium in North America during the Last Glacial Maximum. The discovery of a new mammal and associated parasites for Canada points to the urgent need for more detailed information on high-latitude biotas in North America, data that are best obtained through museum-based field surveys, particularly for small, cryptic species.