Mammals of the WorldLaxmann's Shrew
Sorex caecutiens
- Order
- Eulipotyphla
- Family
- Soricidae
- Genus
- Sorex
- IUCN status
- LC
- Distribution
- Norway|Sweden|Finland|Estonia|Latvia|Lithuania|Poland|Belarus|Ukraine|Russia|Kazakhstan|Mongolia|China|Japan|North Korea|South Korea
- Realm
- Palearctic
Other names: Masked Shrew
About this species
- Habitat
- Taiga, forest, and moist ground cover
- Range
- Northern Eurasia
Laxmann's shrew is a small red-toothed shrew of northern Eurasia. Like other Sorex it has a long pointed muzzle, small eyes, and tooth tips coloured by iron-rich pigment. Published summaries place it across the boreal zone from Scandinavia through Siberia to the Pacific. Species identification among Eurasian Sorex often requires dental, skull, or genetic examination, so coat colour alone is unsafe. (Wikipedia, general species account; Mammal Diversity Database)
The species is associated with taiga and other forested landscapes, particularly sites with moist ground cover. It forages within litter and low vegetation for small invertebrate prey and remains active through the northern winter beneath snow. The central Asia checklist supports occurrence, but the opened accounts did not provide a local population study, diagnostic measurements, breeding figures, or a named viewing locality. (Wikipedia, general species account; Mammal Diversity Database)
Description: Wildlife of Korea guide, Wildlife of Everywhere (wildlifeofeverywhere.com); general species information paraphrased from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)