What order does the shrew belong to? Tiny shrew - Sorex minutissimus

Despite the fact that the common shrew (Sorex araneus) often lives near humans, it is almost impossible to see it. She leads a very secret life.

Appearance of the common shrew

Shrews are small, mouse-like shrews from the order of insectivores. Their body is elongated, about 7 cm long. Among the most characteristic features The shrew has a particularly expressive cone-shaped head, which ends in a thin, elongated, movable proboscis, and brown, sometimes reddish carnassial teeth, for which the animals got their name. Small short ears are barely visible from the fur. The thick, soft velvety hair of these shrews, like that of all underground animals, is short, velvety black or dark brown with a rusty tint on the sides of the body.

Shrew habitats

The common shrew lives in a wide variety of places, but in fairly shaded places with high soil moisture. Found in forests, parks, and marshy meadows, it avoids only open and dry areas. Very often, especially in autumn and winter, it enters rural settlements, where it is quite common in residential buildings, in storerooms, gardens.Shrews are active throughout the year. They are most active at night and remain in the nest for only a very short time. Interestingly, these miniature shrews survive the winter without falling into prolonged hibernation.

What do shrews eat?

Shrews are extremely predatory mammals. They spend almost their entire lives searching for food. Extremely voracious, they cannot remain without food even for three hours. This is predetermined by intense metabolism and rapid digestion of food. The body temperature of shrews is significantly higher than that of other mammals, reaching 40 °C.The common shrew feeds on a wide variety of small animals: earthworms, insect larvae and pupae, butterflies, and dragonflies. It often attacks much larger animals - mouse-shaped rodents, frogs, etc. In winter, the diet is more monotonous: under the snow cover, in the unfrozen layer of soil, wintering insects are looked for among fallen leaves. While looking for food, it often ends up in cellars, storerooms, and the like. But shrews do not touch household products; they only eat wintering insects here.Shrews consume plant food only in addition to animal, often in winter period. These are seeds from spruce and pine cones, linden nuts and the like.

Reproduction of the common shrew

Shrews build nests from dry stems and roots of herbaceous plants, well lined with moss, in the top layer of soil, in rotten stumps, old burrows of mouse-like rodents, or under the forest floor of fallen leaves. They breed starting from the end of March throughout the warm period of the year. During this time, they manage to give birth to two or three offspring, giving birth to 7-8 babies each time. Newborn cubs are helpless, naked, blind, but they grow quickly and at the age of one month they already begin to consume animal food.

In winter, the most favorable conditions for the life of shrews are deep drifts. A small depth of snow cover during prolonged frosts is destructive for them.

The common shrew has many enemies, but they do not always eat them, they even throw them away after catching them. This is explained by the fact that shrews have specific glands that secrete a very unpleasant liquid.
smell, which often scares predators away from them. Only owls successfully hunt them.

By destroying a large number of harmful insects and baby mouse-like rodents, shrews are of great benefit. In addition, by constantly digging the soil, they promote the penetration of air into the surface layers and the natural regeneration of plantings.Occasionally, shrews can cause harm, for example, by getting to a hive to feast on bees, but this does not reduce their beneficial value.

The appearance of the small shrew can be seen in more detail in the following video.

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Appearance. Shrews are small animals with long noses and long tails.
The body length of the tiny shrew is 3.5-5.3 cm, the tail is 1.5-3 cm. This is the smallest mammal in Russia, weighing only 1.8-2.9 grams! The proboscis is shorter than that of the pygmy shrew. The tail is covered with thick short fur, the teeth are tipped with red-brown (1) . The ears hardly protrude from the fur. The color is dark, most often brownish-gray.

Spreading. Lives in forests and forest-steppes throughout the country (rare in the European part), in the tundra of Chukotka and Kamchatka. Relatively common on the outskirts of forest swamps. The species is almost never numerous. They live in forests, forest-steppes and tundras, less often in floodplains of steppe rivers and meadows.

Biology and behavior. Contrary to their name, shrews do not dig holes themselves, but use the passages of rodents and moles, cracks and voids in the soil, or move under a layer of forest litter and in the grass, trampling long compacted tunnels. (2) , and in winter they trample branched paths through the thick snow (3) .
In winter, they almost never come out from under the snow, but they do not hibernate even in the Yakut forest-tundra with their terrible frosts. In cold winters with little snow, when shrews cannot get insects from frozen soil, they have to run a lot in the snow, collecting tree seeds. The snow passages of shrews are very narrow (up to 2 cm) (3) .
Shrews have an unpleasant odor, so most predators do not eat them. Therefore, on forest paths you often see animals killed and abandoned by predators. (4) . However, owls, for example, successfully feed on shrews, leaving behind characteristic pellets (5) .
In the taiga zone, the number of shrews is usually 200-600 per hectare, in the tundra - 3-5 times less.
The very high metabolic rate of these tiny animals is manifested in the fact that of all mammals they have the greatest need for oxygen and the most heat body - over 40°C.

Footprints. Shrew tracks are very shallow, small, five-toed (6) , usually located in pairs. If the snow is not covered with crust, then a clear imprint of the tail remains behind the track. (7) .

Nutrition. Small animals, shrews, cool down very quickly in the cold, so they have to eat a lot to maintain body temperature. Shrews sometimes eat four times more than their own weight in a day, and without food they die within a few hours.
In forests, shrews are among the most numerous mammals and, unnoticed by the eye, do a great job of controlling the number of insects on the forest floor. They eat especially a lot of beetles, earthworms, and insect larvae. They do not disdain their own kind, especially in winter (8) (the picture shows the skin of a shrew eaten by other shrews). In addition to animal food, they also eat seeds (mainly from coniferous trees), which they sometimes store for the winter, and sometimes mushrooms. They also eat their own and other people's droppings.

Reproduction. Shrews build spherical nests from the stems and leaves of herbaceous plants (9) . Shrews have 2-3 broods per year, each with 2-10 young. Shrews breed all summer; pregnancy lasts 18-28 days. Two or three times a year, females give birth to blind, hairless cubs, which become independent within 3-4 weeks.

Taxonomy. Order Insectivores(Insectivora) includes four families: the Hedgehog family (Erinaceidae), the Mole family (Talpidae), the Muskrat family (Desmanidae) and the Shrew family (Soricidae).
Shrew Family in Russia includes five genera: the genus Shrew (Sorex), the genus Shrew (Crocidura), the genus Kutora (Neomys), the genus Putoraki (Diplomesodon) and the genus Shrew (Suncus).
Genus Shrew(Sorex) probably has at least 15 difficult-to-distinguish species in Russia. An accurate identification of a shrew is possible only by the details of the structure of the skull and reproductive organs, but you can roughly understand what kind of animal you have in your hands from the descriptions given above. In the forests of the European part of Russia and Western Siberia, the common shrew (Sorex araneus) is much more common than others, and in Central and Eastern Siberia - the common shrew (Sorex caecutiens).

General Features biology , behavior , nutrition , reproduction And economic importance insectivores are given in the description of the order Insectivores (Insectivora), and shrews - in the description of the family Shrews (Soricidae).

On our website you can also get acquainted with the reference book anatomy, physiology and ecology of mammals: general characteristics of the class of mammals, anatomy and physiology of mammals: size and weight, skin and hair, skeleton and muscles, digestive organs, respiratory and circulatory organs, organs of excretion, reproduction and internal secretion, sensory organs and nervous system, adaptive types of mammals: mammals of open landscapes, forest animals, mountain mammals, burrowing animals, aquatic mammals, main features of mammal ecology: daily and seasonal life, shelters, nutrition, reproduction and population dynamics.

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The common shrew is a small animal belonging to the subfamily Shrews and the shrew family. What does a shrew look like and what kind of animal is it?

The most famous representative of his family in Central Asia. These are small animals. They are also called forest shrews.

Shrew habitat

Shrews live in dense forests, which are located near rivers on the eastern side of Lake Baikal, and also prefer the European territory of Russia, reaching the Yenisei. North America - also typical place habitat of shrews.

It is surprising that these animals are purely terrestrial inhabitants, but they can be found both in dry forests and steppes, and in swamps and river areas. In fact, there is a huge variety of shrew species. There are more than 70 species worldwide, but only 17 species are present in Russia.

Description of the shrew

Shrews, like all shrews, are compact in size. The body, although elongated, barely reaches 8 cm in length. The weight does not cross the 18 g mark.

Visual deception regarding body size is achieved by the presence of a long tail, which can be up to 70 mm long. In some individuals, the tail is completely naked, and in special cases it is covered with a few sparse hairs. The shrew also has rather long legs; the foot can be 10-15 mm long. The ears are almost invisible, as they are hidden by thick fur, and the head has an elongated shape.

These shrews are dark in color and their skin is black or dark brown. The color evenly covers the entire body, with the exception of the abdomen, which is gray. The saturation and depth of color depends on the age of the shrew. Juveniles are lighter in color and become darker when they reach sexual maturity.

Feeding features of shrews

Due to its very small body mass, the shrew has a very difficult time surviving in low temperatures. They need to consume a lot of food to maintain their body temperature, this is not so easy, they have to move around a lot in search of food.

The shrew is always on the verge of life and death, because if it does not provide itself with food that exceeds its own weight at least three times, it dies of hunger in just a few hours. Because of this, this shrew is not picky about food; it happily eats insects and their larvae, earthworms, and if necessary, it can feast on its dead relatives.

In addition to living organisms, it also eats seeds of various coniferous plants, animal droppings, and all kinds of mushrooms. Sometimes it can climb up the bark of a tree to get into the clutch of a silkworm. Frogs are usually attacked in winter, when amphibians are hibernating.

Shrew behavior

Shrews are typical loners. They move into burrows one by one. In the construction and arrangement of burrows, they can safely be called lazy, since they love to occupy ready-made shelters that once belonged to other shrews. There they leave offspring, which consist of 2-10 cubs, approximately 3 times a year. Pregnancy lasts about 30 days.

The common shrew is a small mammal of the shrew family.

This animal is also known as the common shrew, or forest shrew.

Appearance

Body length 5 - 8 cm, tail length 6.5 cm, weight 4 - 16 grams. Like other shrews, the shrew's muzzle is very elongated and resembles a proboscis.

Otherwise according to appearance The shrew resembles mice, although it is not related to them. The fur of this animal is short, black or dark brown, with a rusty tint on the sides. It got its name because of its brown teeth, which sometimes even have a reddish tint.

Shrews have ears, but they are so small that they are almost indistinguishable in the thick coat of hair. A special feature of the shrew's structure is its brain. It makes up one tenth of body weight. This is a very large part - larger than the brain-to-body ratio of humans and dolphins.

common shrew photo

True, the shrew cannot be called particularly brilliant, but it is a fairly smart animal, like most predators.

Habitat

Most shrews are found in Northern and Western Europe, including the northern and northwestern regions of Russia. These animals live in a variety of places, but prefer shade and moist soil. They live in parks, forests, and sometimes in swamps; The shrew usually avoids open places.

Like mice, shrews are often found in residential buildings in rural areas, where they especially frequent in the fall and winter. At the same time, they tolerate quite harsh conditions and are able to survive the winter without falling into a long hibernation.

common shrew on a hummock photo

It is curious that in particularly severe winters, shrews live in abundant snowdrifts, while in the open they can die.

Nutrition

As already mentioned, shrews look like small rodents. However, their type of nutrition is completely different. They are ferocious predators and feed not only on small animals - worms, insects and their larvae, but also attack much larger animals - mice and other rodents, frogs.

Shrews spend almost their entire lives searching for food, which is explained by their extremely high metabolism; their body temperature is much higher than most other mammals, at 40 degrees. In winter, shrews search for hibernating insects under the snow.

delicacy shrew photo

In houses, they climb into basements and cellars, but do not eat food stored in them - there they hunt insects. In small quantities, shrews eat seeds of spruce and pine trees, linden nuts and other plant foods; This most often occurs in winter, when animal food is scarce.

Reproduction

Shrews begin to breed in March and continue throughout the warm period. Over the course of a year, they can give birth to several litters, each of which contains 7–8 cubs. The “mice” are helpless, naked and blind, but they grow very quickly and at the age of one month they begin to hunt. At the same time, shrews build nests from stems and roots, and the floor is lined with moss. Nests are located in the soil, old stumps or abandoned mouse holes.

Shrew is a small animal (from several centimeters, in rare cases up to 1 decimeter), belonging to the shrew family, weighing only ten grams.

As seen in photo, shrew outwardly it resembles a field one, differing from it only in an elongated muzzle, similar to a proboscis, and a tail, sometimes larger than the body itself, with short hairs.

In addition, the animal has small beady eyes, white teeth, large hind legs, velvety fur and a dark brown, in some cases almost black, color. The top is darker and the bottom is lighter. The animals are extremely common in Northern Europe and belong to the largest genus of mammals.

They like to settle in bushes and thickets of grass, and live, as a rule, in the undergrowth. In some cases, like, they can settle in people's houses.

Common shrew especially taken root in areas with temperate climates. The animal can often be observed in the shade of mixed and deciduous forests, where it prefers damp areas covered with plant debris.

Arctic shrew is a resident of Siberia and the tundra, also found in the far north of the American continent. The animals shed a couple of times a year (just at the junctions of the cold and warm cycles of the northern climate), changing their fur from bright and dense in the winter months to thinner wool of discreet tones in favorable seasons. The color of the fur itself is interesting and has three shades of brown, varying from light to grayish and completely dark.

Giant shrew, having a body length of 10 cm, is found in the north of the Korean Peninsula, the Far East and China. The population of this animal is sharply declining, and in view of this state of affairs, measures are being taken to protect it.

Pictured is a giant shrew

Little shrew much smaller and reaches a length of no more than 6 cm, and often much smaller. Found in the Caucasus, Kyrgyzstan and Siberia. Usually has a coffee-red color. The smallest (about 4 cm) is tiny shrew, which is not for nothing considered the smallest representative of mammals in the world.

In the photo there is a small shrew

Character and lifestyle of the shrew

Unlike rodents mice, shrew refers to insectivorous mammals. In addition, she does not dig minks, but lives in the forest floor: the surface of the earth covered with fallen leaves and withered grass from last year.

In winter, the animal does not hibernate, so it can be found in an active state at all times of the year. The shrew is cautious, and its main life takes place at night. But it can carry out its activities at any other time of the day, especially becoming more active a few hours before sunset.

It is capable of making winding passages in soft soil, under snow and in loose forest floors, doing this with the help of its proboscis and paws. Sometimes for his advancement he uses the moves of rodents: voles, .

Small shrew has poor vision. And the main organs that help her survive in this world are touch and smell. In addition, at night she is helped to navigate by such a special and unique device given to her by nature as echolocation.

This addition to other sensory organs, which distinguishes it from many other living beings, helps it not to get confused in the dark among the stems of grass and plant roots.

In search of what it is striving for, the shrew emits sound pulses. And the animal’s ears, which have a unique structure, receive in response the necessary signals, giving it the necessary information about the features of the surrounding world.

Nutrition

The animal, despite its modest size, is extremely voracious, consuming twice its weight in food per day.

And she finds food by actively rummaging in the upper layers of the soil, which has the misfortune of greatly annoying avid gardeners. But it’s better not to rush to get angry at neighbors like shrews, because animals can help get rid of many pests: caterpillars, leaf beetles, click beetles, slugs.

Moreover, a shrew rarely catches the eye of a person, because it operates mainly at night, actively swarming in the garbage. The animal feeds on terrestrial invertebrates: snails, centipedes, spiders and earthworms.

In the forest floor, teeming with small animals where it lives, it is not difficult for it to obtain food during favorable periods. The shrew is also quite capable of eating bird droppings, carrion and plant seeds, which usually make up its winter diet.

When eating, the animal usually rests on all four paws, but in some cases, for example, when eating slippery worms or beetles, it can use its front paws to hold its prey.

Often in search of something edible, the shrew climbs trees, climbing the trunk, clinging to uneven bark with its paws in order to feast on the eggs of a nun butterfly or gypsy moth.

To get food, the shrew is capable of attacking even such large animals, in comparison with its size, as small rodents and frogs. And if he wins, he eats them almost entirely, leaving only the skins and bones of his victims.

Many frogs become prey for shrews during hibernation, and when the snow melts, only their thoroughly gnawed skeletons can be found on the forest floor.

Reproduction and lifespan

The breeding season for animals begins in early spring, usually in March, and ends in late autumn.

During this period, the mother shrew is capable of giving birth to several litters (from two to four), each of which adds 3-9 cubs to the number of this species of insectivore.

The animal's pregnancy lasts about three to four weeks. And by the end of the gestation period, shrews build a nest among the roots of trees or stones. They build a home for their future children from leaves and moss, covering it with something soft for convenience.

Small shrews develop quickly, although they are born completely blind and with an unprotected, naked body. Over the next three weeks, from the moment of birth, they feed on mother's milk.

After two weeks, the cubs' pupils open and they begin to become covered with fur. And after 3-4 months they are already able to bear offspring. The animals live for about 18-23 months, but during this time they are able to multiply greatly.