Tiunov M.P.
Zoologicheskiy zhurnal 2003; 82(6): 708-713
The species composition and distribution pattern of insectivorous animals and rodents over the coastal areas in Okhotskii, Ayano-Maiskii, and Tuguro-Chumikanskii raions of the Khabarovsk Krai were studied. The highest number of Sorex gracillimus dwelling the northwestern coasts of the Sea of Okhotsk was recorded in open biotopes. In this regard, this species is similar to slender shrews dwellinhg the northern Sakhalin Island and the southern Kuril Islands but differ from those inhabiting the Primorskii Krai. The entire territory of the western Sea of Okhotsk coast from its northern areas up to the Kivun and Mechavan Ridges on the south is shown to be a wide transitional zone between the faunas of the northern and southern regions of the Russian Far Fast with rather distinct marginal boundaries. The Sea of Okhotsk coast appears to lose its importance as an ecological way of settling animals and represents some historical interest in this respect.
