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Sorex
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 animals have long, pointed snouts, small ears, which are often not visible, and scent glands located on the sides of their bodies. As their eyesight is generally poor, they rely on hearing and smell to locate their prey, mainly insects. Some species also use echolocation. Distinguishing between species without examining the dental pattern is often difficult. In some species, a female shrew and her dependent young form "caravans", in which each shrew grasps the rear of the shrew in front, when changing location. Species * Genus ''Sorex'' – most basal of the genera ** Kashmir pygmy shrew (''S. planiceps'') – India and Pakistan ** Tibetan shrew (''S. thibetanus'') ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Red-toothed Shrews
The red-toothed shrews of the subfamily Soricinae are one of three living subfamilies of shrews, along with Crocidurinae (white-toothed shrews) and Myosoricinae (African white-toothed shrews). In addition, the family contains the extinct subfamilies Limnoecinae, Crocidosoricinae, Allosoricinae and Heterosoricinae. These species are typically found in North America, northern South America, Europe and northern Asia. The enamel of the tips of their teeth is reddish due to iron pigment. The iron deposits serve to harden the enamel and are concentrated in those parts of the teeth most subject to wear. The list of species is: * Tribe Anourosoricini ** Genus ''Anourosorex'' (Asian mole shrews) *** Assam mole shrew, ''A. assamensis'' *** Giant mole shrew, ''A. schmidi'' *** Chinese mole shrew, ''A. squamipes'' *** Taiwanese mole shrew, ''A. yamashinai'' * Tribe Blarinellini ** Genus ''Blarinella'' (Asiatic short-tailed shrews) *** Indochinese short-tailed shrew, ''B. griselda'' ** ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sorex Araneus
The common shrew (''Sorex araneus''), also known as the Eurasian shrew, is the most common shrew, and one of the most common mammals, throughout Northern Europe, including Great Britain, but excluding Ireland. It is long and weighs , and has velvety dark brown fur with a pale underside. It is one of the rare venomous mammals. Juvenile shrews have lighter fur until their first moult. The common shrew has small eyes, a pointed, mobile snout and red-tipped teeth. It has a life span of approximately 14 months. Shrews are active day and night, taking short periods of rest between relatively long bursts of activity. Territory Common shrews are found throughout the woodlands, grasslands, and hedgelands of Britain, Scandinavia, and Eastern Europe. Each shrew establishes a home range of 370 to 630 m² (440 to 750 yd²). Males often extend the boundaries during the breeding season to find females. Shrews are extremely territorial and will aggressively defend their home ranges from othe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Long-tailed Shrew
The long-tailed shrew or rock shrew (''Sorex dispar'') is a small shrew found in Atlantic Canada and the Northeastern United States. This shrew is slate grey in color with a pointed snout, a long tail, and lighter underparts. It is found on rocky slopes in mountainous areas along the Atlantic coast from Gaspé Peninsula, Quebec, and Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, to northern Georgia. It eats insects and spiders. Predators include hawks, owls, and snakes. Physical features The long-tailed shrew is small, slender, black to slate-gray in color, and with a long tail. Its average length, including tail length, is . The head and body length can be . The tail length, which averages from 80 to 90% of head-body length, ranges from . The long-tailed shrew has a hind foot length of , and can have a total body weight of . The tail is furry with hair that is faintly bicolored. In older long-tailed shrews, a loss of hair from the tail may be exhibited. The long-tailed shrew has a long, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dwarf Shrew
The dwarf shrew (''Sorex nanus'') is a species of mammal in the family Soricidae endemic to Arizona, Colorado, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming in the United States. The type locality is Estes Park (Larimer County), Colorado, USA. Description As described by its common name, the dwarf shrew is a very small species of shrew, usually weighing 1.8 to 3.2 g. It changes its pelage (fur) based on the season to aid in hiding from predators. In summer, the pelage is brown to olive brown on the dorsal side. This color extends down the side and merges with the smoke gray fur on its stomach. The tail is bicolored, a mixture of dark fur on top and beige fur underneath. During the winter, its pelage turns lighter and grayer, especially on its back, again to blend into the surroundings.Hoffmann, R., & Owen, J. (1980). Sorex tenellus and Sorex nanus. American Society of Mammalogists, 131, 1-4. Retrieved March 12, 2015, from http://www.science.smith.edu/msi/ Phylo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Smoky Shrew
The smoky shrew (''Sorex fumeus'') is a medium-sized North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...n shrew found in eastern Canada and the northeastern United States and extends further south along the Appalachian Mountains. Subspecies This species has two recognized subspecies: *''Sorex fumeus fumeus'' *''Sorex fumeus umbrosus'' Description The smoky shrew is active year-round. It is dull grey in colour with lighter underparts and a long tail which is brown on top and yellowish underneath. During winter, its fur is grey. Its body is about in length including a long tail and it weighs about . Habitat and ecology This animal is found near streams in cool damp deciduous and mixed woods. It makes extensive, solitary, burrows in the leaf litter on the fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cinereus Shrew
The cinereus shrew or masked shrew (''Sorex cinereus'') is a small shrew found in Alaska, Canada, and the northern United States. This is the most widely distributed shrew in North America, where it is also known as the common shrew. Description It is grey-brown in colour with a light grey underside and a pointed snout. It has a long tail that is brown on top and pale underneath with a dark tip. Its body is about in length including a long tail. It weighs about . It has darker colouring than other shrews. Masked shrews can live up to two years, but, on average, only survive eighteen months. In a long-term study done in Alaska, Yom-Tov and colleagues (2005) found that the masked shrew's body size contradicts Bergmann's Rule. The study, done on 650 specimens and spanning from 1950 to 2003, examined body size in relation to ambient temperature. Measurements of body weight and the length of the tail, ear, hind foot, and body were taken. Results yielded that the masked shrew's bo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Pygmy Shrew
The American pygmy shrew (''Sorex hoyi'') is a small shrew found in Northern Alaska, Canada, and the northern United States, south through the Appalachian Mountains. It was first discovered in 1831 by naturalist William Cane in Georgian Bay, Parry Sound. This animal is found in northern conifer Conifers are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single ...ous and deciduous forests of North America. It is believed to be the second-smallest mammal in the world, but has an extremely large appetite for its size. Due to its fast metabolism, it needs to eat constantly. It digs through moist soils and decaying leaf litter for food. Description The American pygmy shrew is the smallest mammal native to North America and is one of the smallest mammals in the world, being just slightly larger th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Large-toothed Shrew
The large-toothed shrew or Mexican large-toothed shrew (''Sorex macrodon'') is one of 77 species within the genus '' Sorex''. Registered on the IUCN Red List as vulnerable with a decreasing population, the Mexican large-toothed shrew has been recorded only 14 times in seven locations. The shrew is a member of the red-toothed shrew subfamily Soricinae, and the more taxonomically defined tribe Soricini. Members of the latter category exhibit long tails relative to body size. Habitat, distribution, and survival With an estimated range around 6,400 to 12,000 km², ''S. macrodon'' is endemic to Mexico and occupies mossy banks, moist cloud forest, and dense oak forests, where it may live under rocks or logs, beside streams, and in weedy vegetation. Mexican large-toothed shrews inhabit pine-oak, coniferous, and tropical forest growing inside the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt (TVB) within the southernmost Sierra Nevada. This natural landmark is found inside the Gulf of Mexico, and i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shrew (animal)
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. Although its external appearance is generally that of a long-nosed mouse, a shrew is not a rodent, as mice are. It is, in fact, a much closer relative of hedgehogs and moles; shrews are related to rodents only in that both belong to the Boreoeutheria magnorder. Shrews have sharp, spike-like teeth, whereas rodents have gnawing front incisor teeth. Shrews are distributed almost worldwide; among the major tropical and temperate land masses, only New Guinea, Australia, and New Zealand have no native shrews; in South America shrews appeared only relatively recently, as a result of the Great American Interchange, and are present only in the northern Andes. The shrew family has 385 known species, making it the f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Animal Echolocation
Echolocation, also called bio sonar, is a biological sonar used by several animal species. Echolocating animals emit calls out to the environment and listen to the echoes of those calls that return from various objects near them. They use these echoes to locate and identify the objects. Echolocation is used for navigation, foraging, and hunting in various environments. Echolocating animals include some mammals (most notably Laurasiatheria) and a few birds, especially some bat species and odontocetes (toothed whales and dolphins), but also in simpler forms in other groups such as shrews, and two cave-dwelling bird groups, the so-called cave swiftlets in the genus '' Aerodramus'' (formerly ''Collocalia'') and the unrelated oilbird ''Steatornis caripensis''. Early research The term ''echolocation'' was coined in 1938 by the American zoologist Donald Griffin, who, with Robert Galambos, first demonstrated the phenomenon in bats. As Griffin described in his book, the 18t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kashmir Pygmy Shrew
The Kashmir pygmy shrew (''Sorex planiceps'') is a species of mammal in the family Soricidae. It is found in India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ... and Pakistan. References Sorex Fauna of Pakistan Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Mammals described in 1911 {{redtoothed-shrew-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tibetan Shrew
The Tibetan shrew (''Sorex thibetanus'') is a species of mammal in the family Soricidae. It is found in western China. References Sorex Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Mammals described in 1905 {{redtoothed-shrew-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
