Atlas der Säugetiere Nordrhein-Westfalens

Zwergspitzmaus

849 entries

Eurasian pygmy shrew

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  entry

Sorex minutus

The Eurasian Pygmy Shrew is the smallest of the shrew species occurring in Germany. It can be distinguished from the larger Common Shrew and Crowned Shrew, with whom it shares its habitat, by the delicate head and the short hindfoot (only 10-11mm long).
The species lives in tunnels in the ground and in dense vegetation but climbs very well and also searches for food above ground. In part, nests are also built above ground in dense grass. Eurasian Pygmy Shrews occupy a variety of habitats but avoid fields and highly human-modified habitats. There is a certain preference for wet meadows and moist forests. In swamps and bogs the Eurasian Pygmy Shrew can be more abundant than the Common Shrew. In NRW, the species occurs almost area-wide, as long as partially natural habitats are present. Nevertheless, one does not often encounter it.

Author

Rainer Hutterer

Citation

Hutterer R (2024): Zwergspitzmaus (Sorex_minutus).In: AG Säugetierkunde NRW — Online-Atlas of the mammals of North Rhine-Westphalia. Downloaded from saeugeratlas-nrw.lwl.org on 2024/12/21