Sorex minutissimus

• Interesting Facts
• Common Names
• Description
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Interesting Facts

Common Names

Click on the language to view common names.

Description

Habitat

Ecology: This is a very small species (possibly the smallest terrestrial mammal species, although the pygmy white-toothed shrew Suncus etruscus may be slightly smaller) and it is very difficult to catch , other than by pitfall traps . It occurs from the forest tundra zone in the north, through boreal coniferous forests to mixed forests and forest steppe at the southern limit of its range . Within these zones it prefers moist spruce-dominated woodland with thick moss, but it is also commonly found in bogs and mires , and even in dry pine forests and clear-felled areas (Sulkava 1990, 1999). It feeds on small insects, grubs , spiders and snails, consuming as much as 2-5 times its body weight over a 24 hour period (Sulkava 1990, Macdonald and Barrett 1993). Young are born May/August, with between 4 and 7 young in each litter (Sokolov and Orlov, 1980).[1].

List of Habitats :

•     1     Forest   
  
•     1.1     Forest - Boreal   
  
•     1.2     Forest - Subarctic   
  
•     1.4     Forest - Temperate   
  
•     4     Grassland   
  
•     4.5     Grassland - Subtropical/Tropical Dry   
[more info]

Taxonomy

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

Last scrutiny: 28-Nov-2006

Similar Species

Members of the genus Sorex

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 120 species and subspecies in this genus. Here are just 100 of them:

S. alaskanus (Glacier Bay Water Shrew) · S. alpinus (Alpine Shrew) · S. antinorii (VALAIS SHREW) · S. araneus (European Shrew) · S. araneus araneus (European Shrew) · S. arcticus (Black-Backed Shrew) · S. arcticus arcticus (Black-Backed Shrew) · S. arizonae (Arizona Shrew) · S. arunchi (UDINE SHREW) · S. asper (Tien Shan Shrew) · S. averini (Dneper Common Shrew) · S. bairdi (Baird's Shrew) · S. bairdii (Baird's Shrew) · S. bedfordiae (Lesser Stripe-Backed Shrew) · S. bendirii (Bendire's Water Shrew) · S. bendirii bendirii (Bendire's Water Shrew) · S. buchariensis (Buchara Shrew) · S. caecutiens (Laxmann's Shrew) · S. camtschatica (Kamchatcka Shrew) · S. cansulus (Gansu Shrew) · S. cinereus (Long-Tailed Shrews) · S. cinereus nigriculus (Tuckahoe Masked Shrew) · S. cinereus streatori (Cinereus Shrew) · S. coronatus (Or Jersey Shrew) · S. cylindricauda (Greater Stripe-Backed Shrew) · S. daphaenodon (Siberian Large-Toothed Shrew) · S. daphaenodon daphaenodon (Siberian Large-Toothed Shrew) · S. dispar (Long-Tailed Or Rock Shrew) · S. dispar blitchi (Long-Tailed Or Rock Shrew) · S. dispar dispar (Long-Tailed Shrew) · S. emarginatus (Jackson's Shrew) · S. excelsus (Highland Shrew) · S. fumeus (Long-Tailed Shrews) · S. fumeus fumeus (Smokey Shrew) · S. gaspensis (Gaspé Shrew) · S. gracillimus (Slender Shrew) · S. granarius (Lagranja Shrew) · S. haydeni (Hayden's Shrew) · S. hosonoi (Azumi Shrew) · S. hoyi (American Pygmy Shrew) · S. hoyi hoyi (American Pygmy Shrew) · S. hoyi montanus (Pygmy Shrew) · S. hoyi thompsoni (Northeastern Pygmy Shrew) · S. hoyi winnemana (Southern Pygmy Shrew) · S. hydrodromus (Pribilof Island Shrew) · S. isodon (Equal-Toothed Shrew) · S. ixtlanensis (Ixtlan Shrew) · S. jacksoni (Saint Lawrence Island Shrew) · S. kozlovi (Kozlov's Shrew) · S. leucogaster (Paramushir Island Shrew) · S. longirostris (Dismal Swamp Southeastern Shrew) · S. longirostris eionis (Homossassa Shrew) · S. longirostris fisheri (Dismal Swamp Southeastern Shrew) · S. longirostris longirostris (Southeastern Shrew) · S. lyelli (Mount Lyell Shrew) · S. macrodon (Mexican Large-Toothed Shrew) · S. maritimensis (Maritime Shrew) · S. mediopua (Jalisco Shrew) · S. merriami (Merriam's Shrew) · S. merriami leucogenys (Merriam's Shrew) · S. milleri (Carmen Mountains Shrew) · S. minutissimus (Least Siberian Shrew) · S. minutus (Eurasian Pygmy Shrew) · S. mirabilis (Ussuri Shrew) · S. monticolus (Montane Shrew) · S. monticolus malitiosus (Warren Island Dusky Shrew) · S. monticolus monticolus (Montane Shrew) · S. monticolus neomexicanus (Montane Shrew) · S. nanus (Rocky Mountain Dwarf Shrew) · S. neomexicanus (Long-Tailed Shrews) · S. oreopolus (Mexican Long-Tailed Shrew) · S. orizabae (Orizaba Long-Tailed Shrew) · S. ornatus (Suisun Shrew) · S. ornatus ornatus (Ornate Shrew) · S. ornatus relictus (Buena Vista Lake Ornate Shrew) · S. ornatus salarius (Monterey Ornate Shrew) · S. ornatus salicornicus (Salt Marsh Ornate Shrew) · S. ornatus sinuosus (Suisun Shrew) · S. ornatus willetti (Santa Catalina Shrew) · S. pacificus (Pacific Shrew) · S. pacificus pacificus (Pacific Shrew) · S. palustris (Northern Water Shrew) · S. palustris albibarbis (American Water Shrew) · S. palustris brooksi (Vancouver Island Water Shrew) · S. palustris palustris (Northern Water Shrew) · S. palustris punctulatus (American Water Shrew) · S. planiceps (Kashmir Pygmy Shrew) · S. portenkoi (Portenko's Shrew) · S. preblei (Preble's Shrew) · S. pribilofensis (Pribilof Island Shrew) · S. raddei (Radde's Shrew) · S. roboratus (Flat-Skulled Shrew) · S. rohweri (Olympic Shrew) · S. sadonis (Sado Shrew) · S. samniticus (Appenine Shrew) · S. satunini (Caucasian Shrew) · S. saussurei (Saussure's Shrew) · S. saussurei saussurei (Saussure's Shrew) · S. sclateri (Sclater's Shrew) · S. shinto (Sado Shrew)

More Info

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Further Reading

• Checklist of Palaearctic and Indian mammals 1758 to 1946 / by J.R. Ellerman and T.C.S. Morrison-Scott. London: BM(NH), 1966. url p. 47, p. 47.
• Occasional papers of the Natural History Museum, the University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas. 1995 Lawrence, Kan.: The University, 1994-1996. url fig. 11, page 13, p. 32.
• Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. Washington, Biological Society of Washington url p. 23.
• The Canadian field-naturalist. Ottawa, Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club. url p. 639.
• The natural history of the USSR / Algirdas Knystautas; foreword by Vladimir Flint; [translation, John S. Scott]. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1987. url p. 132, p. 213.

Notes

Contributors

• Bisby, F.A., Y.R. Roskov, M.A. Ruggiero, T.M. Orrell, L.E. Paglinawan, P.W. Brewer, N. Bailly, J. van Hertum, eds (2007). Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2007 Annual Checklist. Species 2000: Reading, U.K.
• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 30, 2012.
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed February 29, 2008. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from 6 providers.
• Henttonen, H., Sheftel, B., Stubbe, M., Samiya, R., Ariunbold, J., Buuveibaatar, V., Dorjderem, S., Monkhzul, Ts., Otgonbaatar, M. & Tsogbadrakh, M. 2008. Sorex minutissimus. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloadedon 04February2012.
• IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. . Downloaded on January 28, 2012.
• Insectivore Specialist Group 1996. Sorex minutissimus. In: IUCN 2006. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. &lt;www.iucnredlist.org&gt;. Downloaded on 20 October 2006.
• Ruggiero M., Gordon D., Bailly N., Kirk P., Nicolson D. (2011). The Catalogue of Life Taxonomic Classification, Edition 2, Part A. In: Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2011 Annual Checklist (Bisby F.A., Roskov Y.R., Orrell T.M., Nicolson D., Paglinawan L.E., Bailly N., Kirk P.M., Bourgoin T., Baillargeon G., Ouvrard D., eds). DVD; Species 2000: Reading, UK.

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal February 29, 2008:

• European Environment Agency: EUNIS
• Field Museum: Mammal specimens
• Finnish Museum of Natural History: Hatikka Observation Data Gateway
• GBIF-Sweden: Mammals (NRM)
• Marine Science Institute, UCSB: Paleobiology Database
• University of Alaska Museum of the North: University of Alaska Museum Mammal Collection
• University of Alaska Museum of the North: University of New Mexico Museum of Southwestern Biology Mammal Collection

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 107083
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: ITS-552507
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 13682290
• Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 552507
• IUCN ID: 242950
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 127966

Footnotes

1. Henttonen, H., Sheftel, B., Stubbe, M., Samiya, R., Ariunbold, J., Buuveibaatar, V., Dorjderem, S., Monkhzul, Ts., Otgonbaatar, M. & Tsogbadrakh, M. 2008. Sorex minutissimus. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 04 February 2012. [back]

©2004-2012 David Stang. All rights reserved.