Unless otherwise indicated, specimens are in the University of Kansas Museum of Natural History. Those in other collections are identified by the following abbreviations:
AMNH American Museum of Natural History CM Carnegie Museum ChM Chicago Museum of Natural History CMNH Cleveland Museum of Natural History FC Collection of James S. Findley HC Collection of Robert Holdenreid SGJ Collection of Stanley G. Jewett CDS Collection of Charles D. Snow AW Collection of Alex Walker NMC National Museum of Canada OSC Oregon State College PMBC British Columbia Provincial Museum of Natural History SD San Diego Natural History Museum BS United States Biological Surveys Collection USNM United States National Museum UM University of Michigan Museum of Zoology OU University of Oregon Museum of Natural History UU University of Utah Museum of Zoology WSC Washington State College, Charles R. Conner Museum
In nature, the subspecies of _Sorex vagrans_ form a cline and are distributed geographically in a chain which is bent back upon itself. The subspecies in the following accounts are listed in order from the southwestern end of the chain clockwise back to the zone of overlap.
The synonymy of each subspecies includes the earliest available name and other names in chronological order. These include the first usage of the name combination employed by me and other name combinations that have been applied to the subspecies concerned.
In the lists of specimens examined, localities are arranged first by state or province. These are listed in tiers from north to south and in any given tier from west to east. Within a given state, localities are grouped by counties, which are listed in the same geographic sequence as were the states and provinces (N to S and W to E). Within a given county, localities are arranged from north to south. If two or more localities are at the same latitude the westernmost is listed first. Marginal localities are listed in a separate paragraph at the end of each account. The northernmost marginal locality is listed first and the rest follow in clockwise order. Those records followed by a citation to an authority are of specimens which I have not personally examined. Marginal records are shown by dots on the range maps. Marginal records which cannot be shown on the maps because of undue crowding are listed in Italic type.