The fog shrew (''Sorex sonomae) is a species of

mammal A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three ...

in the family Soricidae. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to northern

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

and

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Description

''S. sonomae'' is categorized as the "largest" shrew found on the "

Pacific Coast Pacific coast may be used to reference any coastline that borders the Pacific Ocean. Geography Americas North America Countries on the western side of North America have a Pacific coast as their western or south-western border. One of th ...

" of the

. It is recognized by its "reddish, light-brown" fur and a tail that "is almost ly colored." Some information is available on the fog shrew's dentition; however, there is no citable reference for the dental formula. One paper has found the dental formula of the fog shrew to be (x 2 = 32 total teeth), but there is debate in the academic community. A conservative estimate has an adult fog shrew ranging in total length from 120-158mm, but has been observed to have a wider range in total length (105-180mm). The weight range for the fog shrew varies in different sources, but falls within the range of .

Habitat and range

The fog shrew is found in areas of "chaparral, coastal coniferous

forests A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological functio ...

, and marshy areas." The areas in which individuals live tend to be moist environments. This includes being near creeks and on the forest floor under fallen trees and other debris. The southernmost range of ''S. sonomae'' is Marin County near the city of Sonoma in California and range north to the "central coast of Oregon." They tend to stay closer to the coast and not move far inland unless they are near a body of water.

Diet

Like most shrews, ''S. sonomae'' is an

insectivore file:Common brown robberfly with prey.jpg, A Asilidae, robber fly eating a hoverfly An insectivore is a carnivore, carnivorous animal or plant which eats insects. An alternative term is entomophage, which can also refer to the Entomophagy ...

. The fog shrew's diet consists mainly of "

centipedes Centipedes (from Neo-Latin , "hundred", and Latin language, Latin , "foot") are predatory arthropods belonging to the class Chilopoda (Ancient Greek , ''kheilos'', "lip", and Neo-Latin suffix , "foot", describing the forcipules) of the subphyl ...

and spiders", but has also been known to eat "

slugs Slug, or land slug, is a common name for any apparently shell-less terrestrial gastropod mollusc. The word ''slug'' is also often used as part of the common name of any gastropod mollusc that has no shell, a very reduced shell, or only a sma ...

and

snails A snail is a shelled gastropod. The name is most often applied to land snails, terrestrial molluscs, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs. However, the common name ''snail'' is also used for most of the members of the molluscan class Gas ...

References

Mammals of the United States Sorex Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Mammals described in 1921 {{redtoothed-shrew-stub