Species: Sorex bendirii
Marsh Shrew
Species
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Encyclopedia of Puget Sound
See Nagorsen (1996).
Classification
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Craniata
Class
Mammalia
Order
Soricomorpha
Family
Soricidae
Genus
Sorex
NatureServe
Classification
Other Global Common Names
Pacific Water Shrew - musaraigne de Bendire
Informal Taxonomy
Animals, Vertebrates - Mammals - Other Mammals
Formal Taxonomy
Animalia - Craniata - Mammalia - Soricomorpha - Soricidae - Sorex - See George (1988) for electrophoretic study of systematic relationships among SOREX species. Also called the Pacific Water Shrew.
Ecology and Life History
See Nagorsen (1996).
Migration
true - false - false - Harris (1984) estimated home range size at 1.09 hectares but did not provide the source of this estimate.
Non-migrant
true
Locally Migrant
false
Food Comments
Diet is primarily aquatic insects, slugs, snails, earthworms, and other small, usually soft-bodied invertebrates (Whitaker and Maser 1976, Verts and Carraway 1998), sometimes small fishes and salamander larvae, (see COSEWIC 2006).. Food may be captured on land or in water. Excess food may be cached.
Reproduction Comments
Considering the entire range, the breeding season extends from late January to late August (Nagorsen 1996, Maser 1998). Gestation lasts about 3 weeks. Litter size is 3-7 (Nagorsen 1996, Maser 1998, Verts and Carraway 1998). Females produce probably 2-3 litters in a single season. Males and probably female do not breed in their first summer (Pattie 1969, Nagorsen 1996). Apparently, adults breed in only one season and live not more than about 18 months (see COSEWIC 2006).
Length
17
Weight
16
Conservation Status
NatureServe Global Status Rank
G4
Global Status Last Reviewed
2011-06-19
Global Status Last Changed
1996-11-01
Distribution
Conservation Status Map
<img src="http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/servlet/GetMapGif?CA.BC=S1&US.CA=SNR&US.OR=S4&US.WA=S4" alt="Conservation Status Map" style="width: 475px; height: auto;" />
Global Range
F - 20,000-200,000 square km (about 8000-80,000 square miles) - F - Range includes coastal lowlands of western North America, from southwestern British Columbia (Fraser Lowland Ecosection, eastward to the Chilliwack River and Harrison Lake; usually at elevations below 600 meters but up to 850 meters) to northwestern California (Nagorsen 1996, Galindo-Leal and Zuleta 1997). In British Columbia, <i>S. palustris</i> occurs at higher elevations (Nagorsen 1996).
Global Range Code
F
Global Range Description
20,000-200,000 square km (about 8000-80,000 square miles)