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All shrews are tiny, most no larger than a mouse. The largest species is the Asian house shrew (Suncus murinus) of tropical Asia, which is about 15 cm (6 in) long and weighs around 100 g (3 + 1 ⁄ 2 oz) [2] The Etruscan shrew (Suncus etruscus), at about 3.5 cm (1 + 3 ⁄ 8 in) and 1.8 grams (28 grains), is the smallest known living terrestrial mammal.
Shrews (family Soricidae) are small mole-like mammals classified in the order Eulipotyphla. True shrews are not to be confused with treeshrews , otter shrews , elephant shrews , West Indies shrews , or marsupial shrews , which belong to different families or orders.
The North American least shrew will also sometimes live inside beehives and eat all the larvae. It will often share its food with other shrews. It eats more than its body weight each day and is known to store food. [4] [7] The North American least shrew makes its home in burrows or shallow runways under flat stones or fallen logs.
Members of this order are called macroscelids, or elephant shrews. They are exclusively found in Africa, in a variety of biomes from forests to deserts. They range in size from the Etendeka round-eared sengi , at 8 cm (3 in) plus a 8 cm (3 in) tail, to the grey-faced sengi , at 32 cm (13 in) plus a 26 cm (10 in) tail, and generally eat insects ...
The northern short-tailed shrew (Blarina brevicauda) is the largest shrew in the genus Blarina, [3] and occurs in the northeastern region of North America. [4] It is a semifossorial, highly active, and voracious insectivore and is present in a variety of habitats like broadleaved and pine forests among shrubs and hedges as well as grassy river banks. [5]
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). They have 32 teeth.
These other shrews are often active during both the day and night. It is probable that the Preble's shrew is active all year. Shrews have been captured in the spring and late summer in southwestern Wyoming [11] and during the summer, fall and spring in British Columbia. [12] In Nevada, these shrews have been collected in the summer and fall. [13]
Predators include larger shrews, hawks, owls, shrikes, snakes, herons, foxes, leopard frogs, bluebirds, brown trout, and weasels. Masked shrews are susceptible to many types of parasites, like fleas and tapeworms. [6] Cowan and colleagues (2007) found that the high volume of food masked shrews consume causes them to be more susceptible to ...