The Tule Shrew is a possibly extinct subspecies of the Ornate Shrew

Ornate Shrew

The Ornate Shrew, Sorex ornatus, is a species of mammal in the family Soricidae. It is endemic to Baja California in Mexico and California in the United States. The Tule Shrew is a likely extinct subspecies; it is only known by four specimens collected in 1905. Other subspecies include the "Suisun...

 (Sorex ornatus). It was confined to the Baja California

Baja California

Baja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...

 peninsula in Mexico.

Description

The holotype, a young adult female, has a total length of 101 mm, a tail length of 41 mm and a hindfood length of 12.5 mm. The condylobasal length of the skull is 16.2 mm, the basal length is 13.9 mm, the breadth of the braincase is 7.5 mm, the palatal length is 7.2 mm, and the interorbital breadth is 3.5 mm. In comparism to the Ornate Shrew the braincase is higher, narrower and less flattened. The tail is slightly longer and the feet are more dusky. The upperparts and sides are grey or slightly darker. The upperparts are smokey grey with a mixed hazel and vinaceous-buff wash. The tail is indistinct bicolored, with mixed grey and wood-brown upperparts and pale ochre-buff underparts.

Distribution

The Tule Shrew was endemic to the El Socorro salt marsh

Salt marsh

A salt marsh is an environment in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and salt water or brackish water, it is dominated by dense stands of halophytic plants such as herbs, grasses, or low shrubs. These plants are terrestrial in origin and are essential to the stability of the salt marsh...

 area around 24.1 km south of San Quintin

San Quintín, Baja California

San Quintín is a coastal town on the west coast of the Mexican state of Baja California, in the municipio of Ensenada. San Quintín has beautiful beaches and several places for tourists to stay. Tourists can enjoy fishing, camping, bird watching, surfing, and clam digging...

 at the west coast of Baja California.

Status

The Tule Shrew is only known by four specimens collected by Edward William Nelson

Edward William Nelson

Edward William Nelson was an American naturalist and ethnologist. He was born in Manchester, New Hampshire. In 1871 together with his family, he became homeless due to the Chicago Fire....

 and Edward Alphonso Goldman

Edward Alphonso Goldman

Edward Alphonso Goldman was an American zoologist. He worked extensively in Mexico with Edward William Nelson and described and revised many groups of mammals....

 in September 1905. Attempts by Laurence Markham Huey in the 1940s and by Jesús E. Maldonado in 1991 to rediscover this shrew failed. Maldonado further noted that the El Socorro salt marsh area is essentially dry due to housing constructions and that the Tule Shrew is likely extinct.