The Barren Ground Shrew (Sorex ugyunak) is a small shrew

Shrew

A shrew or shrew mouse is a small molelike mammal classified in the order Soricomorpha. True shrews are also not to be confused with West Indies shrews, treeshrews, otter shrews, or elephant shrews, which belong to different families or orders.Although its external appearance is generally that of...

 found in northern Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 west of Hudson Bay

Hudson Bay

Hudson Bay , sometimes called Hudson's Bay, is a large body of saltwater in northeastern Canada. It drains a very large area, about , that includes parts of Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Alberta, most of Manitoba, southeastern Nunavut, as well as parts of North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota,...

 and in Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

. At one time, this species was considered to be a subspecies of the similar Cinereus Shrew (S. cinereus). It is similar in appearance and thought to be closely related to the Saint Lawrence Island Shrew

Saint Lawrence Island Shrew

The Saint Lawrence Island Shrew is a species of mammal in the Soricidae family. It is found only on Alaska's St. Lawrence Island....

 (S. jacksoni) and Pribilof Island Shrew

Pribilof Island Shrew

The Pribilof Island Shrew is a species of mammal in the family Soricidae. It is found only on Alaska's Pribilof Islands.-Further reading:* http://aknhp.uaa.alaska.edu/zoology/pdfs/mammals/Priblof%20Shrew.pdf...

 (S. pribilofensis).

It is dark brown on its back with grey-brown sides and underparts; the tail is pale brown on top and light below with a light brown tip. Its body is about 8 cm in length including a 3 cm long tail. It weighs about 4 g.

This animal is found north of the tree line, in wet meadows or thickets in the tundra

Tundra

In physical geography, tundra is a biome where the tree growth is hindered by low temperatures and short growing seasons. The term tundra comes through Russian тундра from the Kildin Sami word tūndâr "uplands," "treeless mountain tract." There are three types of tundra: Arctic tundra, alpine...

.

It eats insects, small invertebrate

Invertebrate

An invertebrate is an animal without a backbone. The group includes 97% of all animal species – all animals except those in the chordate subphylum Vertebrata .Invertebrates form a paraphyletic group...

s and seeds.

The epithet name ugyunak is the Inuit

Inuit language

The Inuit language is traditionally spoken across the North American Arctic and to some extent in the subarctic in Labrador. The related Yupik languages are spoken in western and southern Alaska and Russian Far East, particularly the Diomede Islands, but is severely endangered in Russia today and...

word for "shrew".