Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The shrew – an unpleasant, ill-tempered woman characterised by scolding, nagging, and aggression [1] – is a comedic, stock character in literature and folklore, both Western and Eastern. [2] The theme is illustrated in Shakespeare 's play The Taming of the Shrew .
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.
Masked shrews living at high latitudes are born in late spring and summer, reach adult size by the time they leave their nests, and complete their life cycle within a year. [4] They are born during spring or summer, remain immature in winter, and breed the following spring. [5] Masked shrews breed from May to September.
Common & Eurasian pygmy shrews (genus Sorex), size comparison. The common shrew is not an endangered species, but in Great Britain it, like other shrews, is protected from certain methods of killing by the Wildlife and Countryside Act of 1981. [16] In Britain, shrews can be found at densities of up to one per 200 m 2 (240 yd²) in
The shrew breeds from early spring to late summer, and may be able to raise two or three litters per in a year. Gestation lasts 21 or 22 days, and results in the birth of four to seven hairless young. The young are weaned, with a full coat of fuzzy hair, by one month of age, not receiving the adult coat until they have reached adult size.
The adult body weight ranges from 4 to 8 grams (0.14 to 0.28 oz), with males being slightly larger than females. [3] [4] The basal metabolic rate of vagrant shrews is 5.4 ml O 2 /g/h, [8] with no evidence of torpor in winter. [4] They are referred to sometimes as wandering shrews. [9]
The southern short-tailed shrew is the smallest shrew in its genus, measuring 7 to 10 cm (2.8 to 3.9 in) in total length, and weighing less than 14 g (0.49 oz).It has a comparatively heavy body, with short limbs and a thick neck, a long, pointed snout and ears that are nearly concealed by its soft, dense fur.
They use the burrows or tunnels of other rodents to live in, alone they burrow under tree stumps.They have many predators. The whole life is spent on a few hundred square metres where they establish trackways.The Eurasian pygmy shrew has one of the highest metabolic rates of any animal; to maintain homeostasis, it must eat every two hours.