Mammals of the WorldLesser White-toothed Shrew
Crocidura suaveolens
- Order
- Eulipotyphla
- Family
- Soricidae
- Genus
- Crocidura
- IUCN status
- LC
- Distribution
- Belarus|Ukraine|Moldova|Russia|Kazakhstan|Uzbekistan|Turkmenistan|Kyrgyzstan|Tajikistan|Iran|Afghanistan?|China|Mongolia
- Realm
- Palearctic
Other names: Lesser Shrew
About this species
- Diet
- Insects, arachnids, worms, snails, newts, and small rodents
- Habitat
- Scrub and gardens
- Range
- Africa, Europe, and Asia
The lesser white-toothed shrew is a small Crocidura with unpigmented tooth tips, unlike the red-tipped teeth of Sorex shrews. It is distributed widely through parts of Africa, Europe, and Asia and has a pointed, mobile muzzle. The Asian lesser white-toothed shrew, Crocidura shantungensis, was once included within this species but is now separated, so older eastern records require taxonomic care. (Wikipedia, general species account)
Scrub and gardens are commonly used habitats. Its varied diet includes insects, spiders and other arachnids, worms, gastropods, newts, and small rodents, with the balance changing between habitats. A mother moving with young may form a caravan in which each youngster grips the tail of the animal ahead. The opened account did not provide Mongolia-specific ecology or a viewing locality. (Wikipedia, general species account)
Description: Wildlife of Mongolia guide, Wildlife of Everywhere (wildlifeofeverywhere.com); general species information paraphrased from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)