The Arizona shrew (''Sorex arizonae'') is a species of

shrew 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 diffe ...

native to North America.

Description

The Arizona shrew is one of the smaller species of shrew, with a head and body in length, and a tail about long. When fully grown, they weigh an average of only . Their fur ranges from grey to brown, and is paler on the underparts of the animal. Long thought to be the same as

Merriam's shrew Merriam's shrew (''Sorex merriami'') is a species of mammal in the family Soricidae. It is endemic to the western United States and extreme southern British Columbia in Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces a ...

, it was identified as a separate species in 1977, and can be physically distinguished only by fine details of the skull and teeth.

Distribution and habitat

The Arizona shrew is found in Chihuahua in

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

, and in southern

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States. It is the list of U.S. states and territories by area, 6th largest and the list of U.S. states and territories by population, 14 ...

and

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe, New Mexico, Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque, New Mexico, Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Albuquerque metropolitan area, Tiguex , Offi ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

. It inhabits forested mountainous terrain between dominated by

conifer Conifers are a group of cone-bearing seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single extant class, Pinopsida. All ex ...

ous trees or by mixed pine and oak. There are no known subspecies.

Biology

Arizona shrews inhabit

primary forest An old-growth forestalso termed primary forest, virgin forest, late seral forest, primeval forest, or first-growth forestis a forest that has attained great age without significant disturbance, and thereby exhibits unique ecological featur ...

with heavy undergrowth, and are particularly common in

mesic Mesic may refer to: * Mesic, North Carolina, a town in the United States * Mesic habitat, a type of habitat See also *Mesić (disambiguation) *Mešić Mešić is a Bosnian surname, a patronymic derived from the masculine given name '' Meša'', it ...

riverine canyons. Despite their preference for such canyons, they are not necessarily found close to open water. They apparently breed between late July and October. They are believed to have diverged from the closely related Merriam's shrew relatively recently, during the late

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the '' Ice age'') is the geological epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was finally confirmed ...

or early

Holocene The Holocene ( ) is the current geological epoch. It began approximately 11,650 cal years Before Present (), after the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene togeth ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1768621 Sorex Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Mammals described in 1977