''Notiosorex'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

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 ...

from the subfamily

Soricinae 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 ...

History

''Notiosorex'' shrews have a fossil history that extends to the

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recent" ...

(i.e., mid-

Hemphillian The Hemphillian North American Stage on the geologic timescale is the North American faunal stage according to the North American Land Mammal Ages chronology (NALMA), typically set from 10,300,000 to 4,900,000 years BP. It is usually considered ...

). The geographic distribution of the genus has always been in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico.

Species

There are four described extant species of ''Notiosorex'': *

Cockrum's gray shrew ''Notiosorex cockrumi'', also called Cockrum's gray shrew or Cockrum's desert shrew, is a tiny species of shrews named in 2003. This red-toothed shrew, which is as light as a penny, is the first new mammal species from Arizona since 1977. Its r ...

(''N. cockrumi'') *

Crawford's gray shrew Crawford's gray shrew (''Notiosorex crawfordi''), also known as the desert shrew, is a small shrew found in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. It is a member of the family Soricidae of the order Eulipotyphla. It was the onl ...

(''N. crawfordi'') * Large-eared gray shrew (''N. evotis'') * Villa's gray shrew (''N. villai'') *(''N. tataticuli'') There are several extinct species of ''Notiosorex'' described from the fossil record: * '' N. repenningi'' * '' N. jacksoni'' * '' N. harrisi'' * '' N. dalquesti''

References

Mammal genera {{redtoothed-shrew-stub