On the original description of the Sacred Shrew, Sorex religiosa I. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1826 [nec 1827] (Mammalia: Soricidae)

The original description of the Egyptian Pygmy Shrew, or Sacred Shrew (Sorex religiosus), was first documented by Joseph Passalacqua in 1826 through mummies from the ancient necropolis at Thebes. While often credited to I. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire's 1827 compendium, earlier mentions in Passalacqua’s Catalogue raisonné (1826) and the Dictionnaire classique d’Histoire naturelle (January 1827) establish priority for Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire’s naming. This study clarifies the temporal sequence of these descriptions, correcting a persistent misattribution in taxonomic literature.

Woodman, N. (2015).

On the original description of the Sacred Shrew, Sorex religiosa I. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1826 [nec 1827] (Mammalia: Soricidae)

Bionomina, 9(1), 50–53. https://doi.org/10.11646/bionomina.9.1.5