The genus Sorex includes many of the common shrews of Eurasia and North America, and contains at least 142 known species and subspecies. Members of this genus, known as long-tailed shrews, are the only members of the tribe Soricini of the subfamily Soricinae (red-toothed shrews). They have 32 teeth.
Quick Facts Sorex Temporal range: Late Miocene to recent, Scientific classification ...
Close
These animals have long, pointed snouts, small ears, which are often not visible, and scent glands located on the sides of their bodies. As their eyesight is generally poor, they rely on hearing and smell to locate their prey, mainly insects. Some species also use echolocation. Distinguishing between species without examining the dental pattern is often difficult.
In some species, a female shrew and her dependent young form "caravans", in which each shrew grasps the rear of the shrew in front, when changing location.
- Genus Sorex[1] – most basal of the genera
- Subgenus Otisorex – mostly North American shrews with a few species found on the Kamchatka Peninsula and islands in the Bering Sea.
- Chiapan shrew (S. chiapensis)
- Cruz's long-tailed shrew (S. cruzi)
- Long-tailed shrew (S. dispar)
- Sorex dispar blitchi
- Sorex dispar dispar
- Western pygmy shrew (S. eximius)
- Sorex eximius eximius
- Sorex eximius montanus
- Smoky shrew (S. fumeus)
- Sorex fumeus fumeus
- Sorex fumeus umbrosus
- Eastern pygmy shrew (S. hoyi)
- Sorex hoyi alnorum
- Sorex hoyi hoyi
- Sorex hoyi thompsoni
- Sorex hoyi winnemana
- Ibarra shrew (S. ibarrai)
- Large-toothed shrew (S. macrodon)
- Sierra shrew (S. madrensis)
- McCarthy's shrew (S. mccarthyi)
- Carmen Mountain shrew (S. milleri)
- Mutable shrew (S. mutabilis)
- Dwarf shrew (S. nanus)
- Mexican long-tailed shrew (S. oreopolus)
- Orizaba long-tailed shrew (S. orizabae)
- Ornate shrew (S. ornatus)
- Sorex ornatus juncensis
- S. o. lagunae
- S. o. ornatus
- S. o. relictus
- S. o. salarius
- S. o. salicornicus
- S. o. sinuosus
- S. o. willetti
- Inyo shrew (S. tenellus)
- Verapaz shrew (S. veraepacis)
- Ixtlan shrew (Sorex ixtlanensis)
- S. vagrans complex
- Glacier Bay water shrew (S. alaskanus)
- Eastern water shrew (S. albibarbis)
- S. a. gloveralleni
- S. a. labradorensis
- S. a. punctulatus
- S. a. turneri
- Baird's shrew (S. bairdi)
- S. b. bairdi
- S. b. permiliensis
- Marsh shrew (S. bendirii)
- S. b. albiventer
- S. b. bendirii
- S. b. palmeri
- Montane shrew (S. monticola)
- S. m. calvertensis
- S. m. insularis
- S. m. isolatus
- S. m. longicaudus
- S. m. malitiosus
- S. m. parvidens
- S. m. prevostensis
- S. m. setosus
- New Mexico shrew (S. neomexicanus)
- Northern montane shrew (S. obscurus)
- S. m. alascensis
- S. m. elassodon
- S. m. obscurus
- S. m. shumaginensis
- S. m. soperi
- Pacific shrew (S. pacificus)
- S. p. pacificus
- S. p. cascadensis
- Western water shrew (S. navigator)
- S. n. brooksi
- S. n. navigator
- American water shrew (S. palustris)
- S. p. hydrobadistes
- S. p. palustris
- Fog shrew (S. sonomae)
- S. s. sonomae
- S. s. tenelliodus
- Vagrant shrew (S. vagrans)
- S. v. halicoetes
- S. v. paludivagus
- S. v. vagrans
- S. cinereus group
- Subgenus Sorex
- Subgenus incertae sedis
- Alto shrew (S. altoensis) – Mexico
- Arizona shrew (S. arizonae) – United States (Arizona, New Mexico) Mexico (Chihuahua)
- Zacatecas shrew (S. emarginatus) – Mexico
- Jalisco shrew (S. mediopua) – Mexico
- Merriam's shrew (S. merriami) – Western United States (Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Wyoming, Colorado)
- Saussure's shrew (S. saussurei) – Mexico and Guatemala
- S. s. godmani
- S. s. saussurei
- Salvin's shrew (S. salvini) – Mexico and Guatemala
- Sclater's shrew (S. sclateri) – Mexico
- San Cristobal shrew (S. stizodon) – Mexico
- Trowbridge's shrew (S. trowbridgii) – Pacific Coast United States (Washington, Oregon, California) Canada (southern British Columbia)
- S. t. destructioni
- S. t. humboldtensis
- S. t. mariposae
- S. t. montereyensis
- S. t. trowbridgii
- Chestnut-bellied shrew (S. ventralis) – Mexico
- Veracruz shrew (S. veraecrucis) – Mexico
- S. v. oaxacae
- S. v. veraecrucis
