Eurasian pygmy shrew

The Eurasian pygmy shrew (Sorex minutus), often known simply as the pygmy shrew, is a widespread shrew of the northern Palearctic.

Eurasian pygmy shrew[1]
Temporal range: Early
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Eulipotyphla
Family: Soricidae
Genus: Sorex
Species:
S. minutus
Binomial name
Sorex minutus
Linnaeus, 1766
Eurasian pygmy shrew range

Behaviour

Active throughout the day and night, the Eurasian pygmy shrew lives in undergrowth and leaf litter and lives off small insects and other invertebrates.[3] It has one of the highest metabolic rates of any animal; to maintain homeostasis, it must eat every two hours.[4][5] Due to this, it eats up to 125% of its body weight (about four grams) each day.[6]

Breeding

The breeding season lasts from April through to August. Females usually produce between two and eight young per litter and care for the young in an underground nest. Since the gestation period is just over three weeks, they can have up to five litters in one year, though the life span of a pygmy shrew is a little over 15 months.[3]

Common and Eurasian pygmy shrews (genus Sorex), size comparison

References
  1. Hutterer, R. (2005). Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 292. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
  2. Hutterer, R.; Kryštufek, B.; Fernandes, M. & Meinig, H. (2017) [errata version of 2016 assessment]. "Sorex minutus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T29667A115171222. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T29667A22316362.en. Retrieved 17 February 2022.
  3. "UK safari on Pygmy shrews". Retrieved 2007-12-27.
  4. "Phibius-log.blogspot.com — Sorex minutus". 12 July 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-27.
  5. Burton, Robert; Burton, Maurice (1970). The international wildlife encyclopedia. Marshall Cavendish. pp. 2358–2359. ISBN 0-7614-7266-5. Retrieved 22 December 2010.
  6. "Pygmy shrew - The Mammal Society". The Mammal Society. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
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