Smoky Shrew

Smoky Shrew[1]
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Soricomorpha
Family: Soricidae
Genus: Sorex
Species: S. fumeus
Binomial name
Sorex fumeus
Miller, 1895
Smoky Shrew range

The Smoky Shrew, Sorex fumeus, is a medium-sized North American shrew found in eastern Canada and the northeastern United States.

It is dull grey in colour with lighter underparts and a long tail which is brown on top and yellowish underneath. During winter, its fur is grey. Its body is about 11 cm in length including a 4 cm long tail and it weighs about 5 g.

This animal is found near streams in cool damp deciduous and mixed woods. Its range extends further south along the Appalachian Mountains. It makes extensive burrows in the leaf litter on the forest floor. It also uses tunnels created by moles or other shrews.

Its diet is insects, earthworms, snails and small rodents. Predators include owls, snakes and mustelids.

This animal is active year-round. The female has 2 to 3 litters of 5 to 7 young in a nest in a stump or under a log.

Subspecies

This species has two recognized subspecies:[1]

References

  1. ^ a b Hutterer, Rainer (16 November 2005). Wilson, Don E., and Reeder, DeeAnn M.. ed. Mammal Species of the World (3rd ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2 vols. (2142 pp.). pp. 288. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494. http://www.bucknell.edu/msw3. 
  2. ^ Hammerson, G., Master, L. & Norris, S.J. (2008). "Sorex fumeus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2009.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/41396. Retrieved 08 February 2010.