Harvest shrew
| Harvest shrew | ||||||||||||
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Harvest shrew ( Sorex minutus ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Sorex minutus | ||||||||||||
| Linnaeus , 1766 |
The harvest shrew ( Sorex minutus ) is a mammal from the shrew family . It populates large parts of Europe and northern Asia.
Mark
The harvest shrew is one of the smallest land-living mammals in Europe. The head-trunk length is 42 to 66 mm, the tail length 35 to 46 mm and the weight 2.6 to 5.9 g. The top and the flanks are solid brown, the bottom is gray.
Similar species
The pygmy shrew is similar to the wood shrew , a relative of the red- toothed shrew genus , but it is significantly smaller than this. Compared to the wood shrew, it has a thicker and longer tail. Another distinguishing feature is the coloration of the wood shrew, which appears two-tone due to a dark back color with clearly lighter flanks.
Alpine , water and swamp shrews have black to black-gray fur. The latter two species are significantly larger and more powerful than the pygmy shrew. The only distantly related native white-toothed shrews , i.e. the field , house and garden shrews , differ from the pygmy shrew, among other things, in the ears that are not covered by hair and the white instead of dark brown tooth tips as well as occasionally protruding longer hair on the tail.
distribution
The distribution area of the pygmy shrew covers almost all of Europe and extends east to Lake Baikal and the Himalayas . It is absent in Europe in the south of the Iberian Peninsula and on all Mediterranean islands and is limited to the mountains in the rest of the Mediterranean region and in south-eastern Europe.
habitat
The pygmy shrew populates wet meadows, moors and mixed forests. In Northern Europe it prefers dry, sandy locations. Overall, it is rarer than the wood shrew.
Way of life
Pygmy shrews mainly eat insects and their larvae as well as arachnids , only rarely snails or earthworms . Reproduction takes place from April to October. A female has up to three litters a year, each containing 2 to 8, usually 5 to 6 young. The newly born, very immature young mice weigh only 0.25 g. The eyes open around the 18th day of life, weaning occurs after 21 days. In the wild, the animals reach a maximum age of 16 months. In winter, pygmy shrews reduce size and weight. The organs and the skull capsule then also lose size.
Existence and endangerment
The pygmy shrew is listed as harmless in Germany on the Red List . According to the IUCN, the world population is also considered safe ( least concern ).
The only European owner is a British zoo, the former German owner is Köthen.
supporting documents
- ↑ Sorex minutus in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2017. Posted by: R. Hutterer, B. Krystufek, M. Fernandes & H. Meinig, 2016. Accessed August 19, 2020th
- ↑ Sorex minutus in the zoo animal list 11.6, accessed on August 19, 2020
literature
- Anthony J. Mitchell-Jones, Giovanni Amori, Wieslaw Bogdanowicz, Boris Krystufek, PJH Reijnders, Friederike Spitzenberger, Michael Stubbe, Johan BM Thissen, Vladimiŕ Vohralik, Jan Zima: The Atlas of European Mammals. Poyser, London, 1999, ISBN 0-85661-130-1 , pp. 54-55.
- Erwin Stresemann (founder), Konrad Senglaub (ed.): Excursion fauna of Germany. Volume 3: Vertebrates. 12th, heavily edited edition. G. Fischer, Jena et al. 1995, ISBN 3-334-60951-0 , pp. 370-371.
Web links
- Sorex minutus in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2017. Posted by: R. Hutterer, B. Krystufek, M. Fernandes & H. Meinig, 2016. Accessed August 19, 2020th
- Pictures of the pygmy shrew