The genus ''Blarina'', commonly called short-tailed shrews, is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of relatively large

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 dif ...

s with relatively short tails found in North America.

Description

They have 32 teeth and are in the

red-toothed shrew 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 subfam ...

subfamily. They generally have dark fur and thick feet. The saliva of these

animals Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the biological kingdom Animalia (). With few exceptions, animals consume organic material, breathe oxygen, have myocytes and are able to move, can reproduce sexually, and grow from a ...

is toxic and is used to subdue prey.

Species

Species are: *

Northern short-tailed shrew The northern short-tailed shrew (''Blarina brevicauda'') is the largest shrew in the genus '' Blarina'', and occurs in the northeastern region of North America. It is a semifossorial, highly active, and voracious insectivore and is present in a ...

''B. brevicauda'' *

Southern short-tailed shrew The southern short-tailed shrew (''Blarina carolinensis'') is a gray, short-tailed shrew that inhabits the eastern United States. Description The southern short-tailed shrew is the smallest shrew in its genus, measuring in total length, and we ...

''B. carolinensis'' *

Elliot's short-tailed shrew Elliot's short-tailed shrew (''Blarina hylophaga'') is a small, slate grey, short-tailed species of shrew. Its common name comes from Daniel Giraud Elliot, who first described the species in 1899. Description Elliot's short-tailed shrew is simila ...

''B. hylophaga'' *

Everglades short-tailed shrew The Everglades short-tailed shrew (''Blarina peninsulae'') is a species of shrew in the genus ''Blarina''. It is endemic to Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United ...

''B. peninsulae'' * Sherman's short-tailed shrew ''B. shermani;'' possibly

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

Ecoepidemiology

Short-tailed shrews are one of the animal reservoirs of the agents of

Lyme disease Lyme disease, also known as Lyme borreliosis, is a tick-borne disease caused by species of ''Borrelia'' bacteria, Disease vector, transmitted by blood-feeding ticks in the genus ''Ixodes''. It is the most common disease spread by ticks in th ...

and human

babesiosis Babesiosis or piroplasmosis is a malaria-like parasitic disease caused by infection with a eukaryotic parasite in the order Piroplasmida, typically a ''Babesia'' or '' Theileria'', in the phylum Apicomplexa. Human babesiosis transmission via ...

.Telford III, S. R., Mather, T. N., Adler, G. H., & Spielman, A. (1990). ''Short-tailed shrews as reservoirs of the agents of Lyme disease and human babesiosis''. The Journal of parasitology, 681-683
abstract

References

Mammal genera Animals that use echolocation Taxa named by John Edward Gray {{redtoothed-shrew-stub