Species: Sorex cinereus

Cinereus Shrew
Species

    A medium-sized shrew (adults usually 9-11 cm total length, tail 35-45 mm, 3-6 g) with a sharply pointed snout, beady eyes, and small ears nearly hidden in the fine soft pelage; dorsal pelage varies from dark brown to gray, depending on the season and location; five small unicuspidate teeth behind the upper incisors (the fifth is minute, the fourth generally is smaller than [less commonly equal to, or sometimes larger than in subspecies OHIOENSIS] the third, and both of these are smaller than the first and second; tips of teeth are dark chestnut; feet are delicate, with slender weak claws; condylobasal length of skull 14.6-16.9 mm; maxillary breadth less than 4.6 mm; posterior border of infraorbital foramen even with, or anterior to, plane of space between M1 and M2 (Armstrong 1987, Hall 1981, Godin 1977).

    Kingdom
    Animalia
    Phylum
    Craniata
    Class

    Mammalia

    Order

    Soricomorpha

    Family

    Soricidae

    Genus

    Sorex

    Classification
    Other Global Common Names
    Masked Shrew - musaraigne cendrée
    Informal Taxonomy
    Animals, Vertebrates - Mammals - Other Mammals
    Formal Taxonomy
    Animalia - Craniata - Mammalia - Soricomorpha - Soricidae - Sorex - S. haydeni

    A medium-sized shrew (adults usually 9-11 cm total length, tail 35-45 mm, 3-6 g) with a sharply pointed snout, beady eyes, and small ears nearly hidden in the fine soft pelage; dorsal pelage varies from dark brown to gray, depending on the season and location; five small unicuspidate teeth behind the upper incisors (the fifth is minute, the fourth generally is smaller than [less commonly equal to, or sometimes larger than in subspecies OHIOENSIS] the third, and both of these are smaller than the first and second; tips of teeth are dark chestnut; feet are delicate, with slender weak claws; condylobasal length of skull 14.6-16.9 mm; maxillary breadth less than 4.6 mm; posterior border of infraorbital foramen even with, or anterior to, plane of space between M1 and M2 (Armstrong 1987, Hall 1981, Godin 1977).

    Migration
    true - false - false
    Non-migrant
    true
    Locally Migrant
    false
    Food Comments
    A generalist, opportunistic invertivore. Eats primarily insects and other invertebrates, carrion, small vertebrates, occasionally seeds. Echolocation may be used for detecting prey (Gould et al. 1964). Consumes daily its own weight in food.
    Reproduction Comments
    Breeding season may last from March through September (there is evidence of mid-winter births in at least some years in Nova Scotia) (Stewart et al. 1989). Usually 2 litters, may be 3. Gestation lasts 18 days. Litter size is 2-10 (average around 7). Young are weaned in 3 weeks. Sexually mature in 20-26 weeks. Some young may breed in the year of their birth.
    Ecology Comments
    Large annual fluctuations in population size. Density estimates range from 1-12 shrews per acre (Buckner 1966). Home range about 0.10 acre. Usually in scattered, locally abundant populations. Rarely lives past second summer.
    Length
    10
    Weight
    5
    NatureServe Global Status Rank
    G5
    Global Status Last Reviewed
    2005-02-28
    Global Status Last Changed
    1996-11-01
    Other Status

    LC - Least concern

    Conservation Status Map
    <img src="http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/servlet/GetMapGif?CA.AB=S5&CA.BC=S5&CA.LB=S5&CA.MB=S5&CA.NB=S5&CA.NF=SE&CA.NT=S5&CA.NS=S5&CA.NU=SNR&CA.ON=S5&CA.PE=S5&CA.QC=S5&CA.SK=S5&CA.YT=S5&US.AK=S5&US.CO=S5&US.CT=S5&US.DE=S5&US.GA=S2&US.ID=S5&US.IL=S5&US.IN=S4&US.IA=SNR&US.KY=S3&US.ME=S5&US.MD=S5&US.MA=S5&US.MI=S5&US.MN=S5&US.MT=S5&US.NH=S5&US.NJ=S4&US.NM=S2&US.NY=S5&US.NC=S4&US.ND=SNR&US.OH=S5&US.PA=S5&US.RI=S5&US.SC=SNR&US.SD=S5&US.TN=S4&US.UT=S3&US.VT=S5&US.VA=S5&US.WA=S4&US.WV=S5&US.WI=S5&US.WY=S5" alt="Conservation Status Map" style="width: 475px; height: auto;" />
    Global Range
    H - >2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles) - H - Alaska to Labrador/Newfoundland, south to Washington, Utah, New Mexico, the Northern Great Plains, southern Indiana and Ohio, through the Appalachian Mountains to northern Georgia and western South Carolina, and on the east coast to New Jersey and northern Maryland (Laerm et al. 1995, Brimleyana 22:15-21; Whitaker 2004).
    Global Range Code
    H
    Global Range Description
    >2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)
    ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.101993