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The genus Sorex includes many of the common shrews of Eurasia and North America, and contains at least 142 known species and subspecies.Members of this genus, known as long-tailed shrews, are the only members of the tribe Soricini of the subfamily Soricinae (red-toothed shrews).
Common shrew foraging (UK) The common shrew's carnivorous and insectivorous diet consists of insects, slugs, spiders, worms, amphibians and small rodents. Shrews need to consume 200% to 300% of their body weight in food each day in order to survive; to achieve this they must eat every 2 to 3 hours, and they will starve if they go without food ...
A characteristic behaviour observed in many species of shrew is known as "caravanning". This is when a litter of young shrews form a line behind the mother, each gripping the shrew in front by the fur at the base of the tail. [9] Shrews are unusual among mammals in a number of respects. Unlike most mammals, some species of shrews are venomous.
The shrew usually has 30 teeth, but the 4th upper intermediate tooth is very small (rudimentary), and is absent in some individuals. [6] Near the mouth grow a dense array of short whiskers, which the shrew actively uses to search for prey, especially in the night. [7] Dimorphism in body features between males and females is absent. [10]
The breeding season lasts from April through to August. Females usually produce between two and eight young per litter and care for the young in an underground nest. Since the gestation period is just over three weeks, they can have up to five litters in one year, though the life span of a pygmy shrew is a little over 15 months. [4]
Like all shrews, the Asian house shrew is plantigrade and long-nosed. The teeth are a series of sharp points to poke holes in insect exoskeletons. It is the largest of the shrew species, weighing between 50 and 100 g and being about 15 cm long from snout to tip of the tail. [8]
The American pygmy shrew is the smallest mammal native to North America and is one of the smallest mammals in the world, just slightly larger than the Etruscan shrew of Eurasia. Its body is about 5 cm (2 in) long including a 2-cm-long tail, and it weighs about 2.0 to 4.5 g (0.07 to 0.16 oz). [ 9 ]
Lesser white-toothed shrew. The "shrew-forms" are insectivorous mammals. Shrews and solenodons closely resemble mice, while moles are stout-bodied burrowers. Family: Soricidae (shrews) Subfamily: Crocidurinae. Genus: Crocidura. Bicolored shrew, C. leucodon LC; Lesser white-toothed shrew, C. suaveolens LC [13] Genus: Suncus. Etruscan shrew, S ...