Atlas der Säugetiere Nordrhein-Westfalens

Sumpfspitzmaus

5 entries

Mediterranean water shrew

Rote Liste NRW: 1 Vom Aussterben bedroht

  entry

Neomys anomalus

Mediterranean Water Shrew is the smaller cousin of the Eurasian Water Shrew. It is smaller and has a shorter tail and hindfoot. The bristled fringes conspicuous in the Eurasian Water Shrew are weakly developed in Mediterranean Water Shrew and the fringed ridge on the underside of the tail is notably missing. The blue-grey dorsal colour and the contrasting whitish ventral colouration are typical. This species only occurs along natural small to larger water bodies and adjacent marshy meadows or swamp forests with dense vegetation. The range of habitats can extend from orchid meadows to stands of stinging nettles along slow to fast flowing streams.

The centre of distribution of this species is in the Mediterranean region. In our area it only occurs as a relict at the northern edge of the Eifel Mountains and the Westerwald region. From Westphalia, only one record from Gilsbach in Siegen County is known; during Roman times (about 2000 years ago), the species also occurred in Unna County. In the Rhineland, only a few records line up from the Bergische Land to the southern Eifel Mountains. Current records (as of 2000) are not known from NRW. In the neighbouring Luxembourg, Mediterranean Water Shrew seems to be somewhat more common. Overall it is a rarity.

Author

Rainer Hutterer

Citation

Hutterer R (2025): Sumpfspitzmaus (Neomys_anomalus).In: AG Säugetierkunde NRW — Online-Atlas of the mammals of North Rhine-Westphalia. Downloaded from saeugeratlas-nrw.lwl.org on 2025/04/01