Red-toothed shrews

Red-toothed shrews
Wood shrew ( Sorex araneus )
Systematics
Subclass : Higher mammals (Eutheria) Superordinate : Laurasiatheria Order : Insect eater (Eulipotyphla) Family : Shrews (Soricidae) Subfamily : Soricinae Genre : Red-toothed shrews
Scientific name
Sorex
Linnaeus , 1758

The Sorex ( Sorex ) is a mammal genus from the family of shrews (Soricidae). In a broader sense, the subfamily of the Soricinae is also called this. It comprises 86 species, several of which are also common in Europe.

features

Red-toothed shrews reach a head body length of 46 to 100 millimeters, with a tail of 25 to 82 millimeters. Their weight is between 2 and 18 grams. The fur color varies from sand to black and can also be patterned. The eyes are small and the ears hardly protrude from the fur. The tail is often hairless in adult animals. Their 30 to 32 teeth have red tips.

distribution and habitat

Red-toothed shrews live in Europe , in the northern and central parts of Asia, and in North and Central America (as far as Guatemala ). They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, but prefer rather humid areas.

Way of life

Red-toothed shrews feed mainly on insects, spiders, worms and snails and are characterized by a high metabolic rate. They are very fertile, the female can give birth to up to ten young animals several times a year after a gestation period of a few weeks.

threat

Several species are listed by the IUCN as endangered or threatened because of the destruction of their habitat or their small range. Two species, Sorex cansulus and Sorex kozlovi , are directly endangered ( critically endangered ), twelve more as threatened or endangered.

The species

Several species also live in Central Europe, these are:

• the alpine shrew ( Sorex alpinus ),
• the wood shrew ( Sorex araneus ),
• the harvest shrew ( Sorex minutus ),
• the black- backed shrew ( Sorex coronatus ) and
• the Valais shrew ( Sorex antinorii ) (in Italy and southern Switzerland).

The Iberian wood shrew ( Sorex granarius ), the Italian wood shrew ( Sorex samniticus ) and the newly discovered Arvonchi desert shrew ( Sorex arunchi ) are found in southern Europe . In northern and eastern Europe there are also the common shrew ( Sorex minutissimus ), the Lapland or masked shrew ( Sorex caecutiens ), the taiga shrew ( Sorex isodon ), Sorex tundrensis , Sorex averini and Sorex volnuchini .

The best known North American species include the American pygmy shrew ( Sorex hoyi ), the American masked shrew ( Sorex cinereus ), the long-tailed shrew ( Sorex dispar ) and the American water shrew ( Sorex palustris )

A total of almost 86 species are distinguished, although the systematics of some species and the division into sub-genera has not yet been fully clarified. The following list follows Burgin et al. (2018) and arranges the species according to the scientific name:

• The Alaska water shrew ( Sorex alaskanus ) lives in northern North America .
• The Alpine shrew ( Sorex alpinus ) lives in the mountains of Europe from the Pyrenees to the Carpathians .
• The Valais shrew ( Sorex antinorii ) is native to Italy and southern Switzerland .
• The wood shrew ( Sorex araneus ) is common in Europe and Western Asia.
• The arctic shrew ( Sorex arcticus ) inhabits northern North America.
• The Arizona shrew ( Sorex arizonae ) lives in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico.
• The Arvonchi desert shrew ( Sorex arunchi ) from Italy was not scientifically described until 1998.
• The Tien Shan shrew ( Sorex asper ) is native to Kyrgyzstan and Xinjiang .
• The Dnieper shrew ( Sorex averini ) from Eastern Europe was formerly part of the wood shrew.
• The Baird's shrew ( Sorex bairdii ) is endemic to Oregon .
• The little striped shrew ( Sorex bedfordiae ) lives in China and the adjacent Himalayan regions.
• The Pacific shrew ( Sorex bendirii ) is common on the Pacific coast of North America.
• The Bukhara shrew ( Sorex buchariensis ) lives in Tajikistan .
• The Lapland or masked shrew ( Sorex caecutiens ) inhabits tundra and taiga regions from Eastern Europe to Japan .
• The Kamchatka shrew ( Sorex camtschatica ) lives on the Kamchatka Peninsula .
• The Gansu shrew ( Sorex cansulus ) is only known from three specimens from Gansu (China). The species is critically endangered .
• The American masked shrew ( Sorex cinereus ) lives in Alaska , Canada and the northern United States .
• The black- backed shrew ( Sorex coronatus ) is native to Western Europe.
• The back-striped shrew ( Sorex cylindricauda ) lives in the Chinese province of Sichuan . The species is considered to be endangered .
• The Siberian big-tooth shrew ( Sorex daphaenodon ) is common in Siberia , Mongolia and Manchuria .
• The long-tailed shrew ( Sorex dispar ) lives in eastern North America.
• The Zacatecas shrew ( Sorex emarginatus ) lives in Mexico .
• The Chinese highland shrew ( Sorex excelsus ) is native to central China.
• The Maryland shrew ( Sorex fontinalis ) is common in the eastern United States.
• The villa shrew ( Sorex fumeus ) lives in southeastern Canada and the northeastern United States.
• The Gaspé shrew ( Sorex gaspensis ) lives in southeastern Canada.
• The slender shrew ( Sorex gracillimus ) is common in southeastern Russia, Manchuria and Hokkaidō .
• The Iberian wood shrew ( Sorex granarius ) lives in the Iberian Peninsula .
• The prairie shrew ( Sorex haydeni ) is common from Alberta and Saskatchewan to Iowa and Kansas .
• The Azumi shrew ( Sorex hosonoi ) is endemic to the island of Honshū (Japan).
• The American pygmy shrew ( Sorex hoyi ) lives in large parts of North America.
• The taiga shrew ( Sorex isodon ) is native to northern Eurasia.
• The Saint Lawrence red tooth shrew ( Sorex jacksoni ) is endemic to Saint Lawrence Island in the Bering Sea . The species is considered to be endangered .
• The Kozlov shrew ( Sorex kozlovi ) lives only in Tibet . The species is critically endangered .
• The Paramushir shrew ( Sorex leucogaster ) is endemic to the Kuril island of Paramushir .
• The southeastern shrew ( Sorex longirostris ) lives in the southeastern United States.
• The Mount Lyell shrew ( Sorex lyelli ) is found only in eastern California .
• The Mexican big-tooth shrew ( Sorex macrodon ) lives in eastern Mexico.
• The Sierra Madre shrew ( Sorex madrensis ) is native to Guatemala.
• The sea shrew ( Sorex maritimensis ) is common in south-eastern Canada.
• The McCarthy shrew ( Sorex mccarthyi ) occurs in Honduras.
• The Jalisco shrew ( Sorex mediopua )
• The Merriam shrew ( Sorex merriami ) lives in the western United States.
• The Miller shrew ( Sorex milleri ) lives in northeastern Mexico.
• The little shrew ( Sorex minutissimus ) inhabits the taiga of Northern Europe and Asia.
• The harvest shrew ( Sorex minutus ) is widespread from Europe to Central Asia.
• The Ussuri shrew ( Sorex mirabilis ) lives in Southeast Russia and North Korea .
• The dark red- toothed shrew ( Sorex monticolus ) is common throughout western North America.
• The western pygmy shrew ( Sorex nanus ) lives in the American Midwest.
• The New Mexico shrew ( Sorex neomexicanus ) is only found in New Mexico .
• The volcanic long-tailed shrew ( Sorex oreopolus ) lives in central Mexico.
• The Orizaba long-tailed shrew ( Sorex orizabae ) also lives in Mexico.
• The beautiful shrew ( Sorex ornatus ) lives in California and Baja California .
  • Sorex ornatus juncensis was thought to be extinct for 90 years. This subspecies lives in Baja California.
• The Pacific shrew ( Sorex pacificus ) is restricted to western Oregon.
• The American water shrew ( Sorex palustris ) is common throughout North America.
• The cashmere pygmy shrew ( Sorex planiceps ) lives in Kashmir .
• The Portenko red-toothed shrew ( Sorex portenkoi ) is native to Northeast Siberia.
• The preble shrew ( Sorex preblei ) lives in the northwestern United States.
• The Pribilof red- toothed shrew ( Sorex pribilofensis ) is endemic to St. Paul Island near Alaska. The species is considered to be endangered .
• The Radde shrew ( Sorex raddei ) lives in the Caucasus and north-eastern Turkey .
• The flat-headed red-toothed shrew ( Sorex roboratus ) inhabits Siberia and Mongolia.
• The Italian wood shrew ( Sorex samniticus ) lives in Italy.
• The Caucasian shrew ( Sorex satunini ) lives in the Caucasus region and northern Turkey.
• The Saussure shrew ( Sorex saussurei ) lives in Mexico and Guatemala .
• The sclater shrew ( Sorex sclateri ) is restricted to southern Mexico. The species is considered to be endangered .
• The Shinto shrew ( Sorex shinto ) lives in Japan.
• The Chinese shrew ( Sorex sinalis ) lives in central China.
• The fog shrew ( Sorex sonomae ) is common in the northwest of the USA.
• The San Cristobal shrew ( Sorex stizodon ) lives in southern Mexico. The species is considered to be endangered .
• The Inyo shrew ( Sorex tenellus ) is only known from Nevada and California.
• The Tibetan shrew ( Sorex thibetanus ) inhabits mountains in Central Asia and Tibet.
• The Trowbridge shrew ( Sorex trowbridgii ) lives on the Pacific coast of North America.
• The tundra red-toothed shrew ( Sorex tundrensis ) is distributed from Eastern Europe via Siberia to Alaska.
• The dry-ground shrew ( Sorex ugyunak ) inhabits the tundra of North America.
• The Amur long-clawed shrew ( Sorex unguiculatus ) lives on the Pacific coast of Russia and on Hokkaidō .
• The wandering shrew ( Sorex vagrans ) lives in southern Canada and the western United States.
• The chestnut-bellied shrew ( Sorex ventralis ) lives in southern Mexico.
• The Veracruz shrew ( Sorex veraecrucis ) is restricted to Mexico.
• The Verapaz shrew ( Sorex veraepacis ) lives in southern Mexico and Guatemala.
• The Caucasus pygmy shrew ( Sorex volnuchini ) inhabits the Caucasus and neighboring regions.
• The Alaska pygmy shrew ( Sorex yukonicus ) is endemic to Alaska.

literature

• Don E. Wilson , DeeAnn M. Reeder (Eds.): Mammal Species of the World . A taxonomic and geographic Reference. 2 volumes. 3. Edition. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD 2005, ISBN 0-8018-8221-4 .
• Ronald M. Nowak: Walker's Mammals of the World. 2 volumes. 6th edition. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD et al. 1999, ISBN 0-8018-5789-9 .
• Connor Burgin, Rudolf Haslauer, Kai He, Arlo Himckey, Stefan Hintsche, Rainer Hutterer , Paulina D. Jenkins, Masaharu Motokawa, Manuel Ruedi , Boris Sheftel and Neal Woodman: Soricidae (Shrews). Don E. Wilson and Russell A. Mittermeier (Eds.): Handbook of the Mammals of the World. Volume 8: Insectivores, Sloths, Colugos. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona 2018, pp. 332–551 ISBN 978-84-16728-08-4

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b} John O. Matson and Nicté Ordóñez-Garza: The taxonomic status of Long-tailed shrews (Mammalia: genus Sorex) from Nuclear Central America. Zootaxa 4236 (3), 2017, pp. 461-483

Web links

Commons : Sorex  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Endangerment level of the individual species in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species .