---
title: "What the sources say about the Etruscan Shrew | AnimalTracks.wiki"
description: "47 claims from the Etruscan Shrew profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it."
image: "https://animaltracks.wiki/images/animals/etruscan-shrew-1.webp"
canonical: "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/etruscan-shrew/sources/"
---

# What the sources say about the Etruscan Shrew (*Suncus etruscus*)

> 47 claims from the Etruscan Shrew profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it. A "..." marks a cut in a quote and [brackets] an insertion.

Profile: [Etruscan Shrew](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/etruscan-shrew/)

## Suncus etruscus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2024: e.T90389138A221340889.

https://doi.org/10.2305/iucn.uk.2024-2.rlts.t90389138a221340889.en

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| The IUCN Red List rates the species Least Concern | IUCN Red List category: Least Concern (LC). |
| Least Concern | IUCN Red List category: Least Concern (LC). (note: Status of Suncus etruscus; category read through GBIF's copy of the Red List, assessed 2023.) |

## Suncus etruscus (white-toothed pygmy shrew). Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan.

https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Suncus_etruscus/

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Most adults weigh 1.8 to 3 grams and measure 35 to 50 mm long | most adults weighing between 1.8 and 3 grams and ranging from 35 to 50 mm in length |
| Most adults are 35 to 50 millimetres long and weigh between 1.8 and 3 grams | most adults weighing between 1.8 and 3 grams and ranging from 35 to 50 mm in length |
| Forest, shrub and grassland, mainly in the Mediterranean lowlands from Portugal to the Middle East | they are mainly confined to the Mediterranean lowlands from Portugal to the Middle East ... The habitat of Etruscan shrews includes forest, shrub and grassland environments. |
| Ants and other small insects | They eat ants and other small insects |
| It eats ants and other small insects | They eat ants and other small insects |
| Etruscan shrews live mainly in the Mediterranean lowlands, from Portugal to the Middle East | they are mainly confined to the Mediterranean lowlands from Portugal to the Middle East |
| Their habitat includes forest, shrub and grassland | The habitat of Etruscan shrews includes forest, shrub and grassland environments. |
| Owls are known predators | Owls are known predators. |
| They are hard to keep alive in captivity | Etruscan shrews are hard to keep alive in captivity due to their size and their large energy requirements. |

## AnAge entry for Suncus etruscus. AnAge: The Animal Ageing and Longevity Database, Build 15, Human Ageing Genomic Resources.

https://genomics.senescence.info/species/entry.php?species=Suncus_etruscus

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| One captive lived 3.2 years | One captive specimen lived 3.2 years |
| AnAge rates that record as questionable and says the real maximum may be considerably higher | Data quality Questionable ... Maximum longevity may still be considerably underestimated. |
| Longevity has not been studied in detail in captivity, where these shrews are hard to keep | Longevity has not been studied in detail in captivity due to difficulties in keeping these animals in captivity. |
| The record in AnAge is one captive shrew that lived 3.2 years, a figure it marks as questionable and possibly a considerable underestimate | Data quality Questionable ... One captive specimen lived 3.2 years, though [ 0671 ]. Maximum longevity may still be considerably underestimated. |

## Heart and respiratory rates and their significance for convective oxygen transport rates in the smallest mammal, the Etruscan shrew Suncus etruscus. Journal of Experimental Biology, 1996.

https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.199.12.2579

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| One of the smallest mammals alive, with a heart that has beaten 1,511 times in a minute. | The highest single value recorded was 1511 min-1 |
| A resting shrew's heart beats 835 times a minute on average | The mean +/- S.D. heart rate of resting animals (ambient temperature 22 degrees C) was 835 +/- 107 min-1 |
| the highest single value recorded was 1,511 beats a minute | The highest single value recorded was 1511 min-1 |
| That is the highest heart rate reported so far for an endotherm, an animal that makes its own body heat | which is the highest heart rate reported so far for an endotherm |
| A resting shrew also takes 661 breaths a minute on average | The mean resting respiratory rate was 661 +/- 93 min-1 |
| Its specific oxygen consumption rate, which is oxygen use relative to body mass, is 67 times higher than a resting human's | the specific oxygen consumption rate is 67 times higher in resting S. etruscus than in resting humans |
| A heart that has beaten up to 1,511 times a minute, the highest rate reported for a warm-blooded animal | The highest single value recorded was 1511 min-1, which is the highest heart rate reported so far for an endotherm |
| A resting Etruscan shrew's heart beats 835 times a minute on average | The mean +/- S.D. heart rate of resting animals (ambient temperature 22 degrees C) was 835 +/- 107 min-1 |
| weightKg: 0.002 | the smallest mammal (mean adult body mass 2g) (note: task #1261) |

## Rates of rewarming, heart and respiratory rates and their significance for oxygen transport during arousal from torpor in the smallest mammal, the Etruscan shrew Suncus etruscus. Journal of Experimental Biology, 1997.

https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.200.10.1451

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Shrews put into torpor, a state of lowered activity, cooled to a mean low of 12.1 degrees Celsius | torpor was induced by deprivation of food and a cold environment ... the lowest mean (+/- S.D.) body temperature (Tb) of 12.1 +/- 1.2 degrees C |
| They then rewarmed at 0.83 degrees a minute on average, among the highest rates recorded in mammals | The mean rate from 12 degrees C to normothermia amounted to 0.83 degree C min-1, which is among the highest values recorded in mammals. |
| Up to about 17 degrees, the heat came mainly from brown adipose tissue, or brown fat | Up to a body temperature of approximately 17 degrees C, the heat for rewarming was mainly produced in the BAT |
| In these shrews it made up 9.2% of body mass, which the 1997 study found higher than in any other mammal | The fraction of brown adipose tissue (BAT) was 9.2 +/- 1.6% of body mass, which is higher than in any other mammal. |

## Tactile guidance of prey capture in Etruscan shrews. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2006.

https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0605573103

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| A cricket can be almost as big as the shrew itself | Crickets are exquisitely mechanosensitive, fast-moving prey, almost as big as the shrew itself. |
| It tracks prey down in darkness by touch | Etruscan shrews are forced to detect, overwhelm, and kill prey in large numbers in darkness. ... tactile shape cues are both necessary and sufficient for evoking attacks (note: The two sets of whiskers (macrovibrissae and microvibrissae) are the next claim.) |
| long ones that help it aim its attack and short ones around the mouth | both macrovibrissae and microvibrissae are required for prey capture, with the macrovibrissae being involved in attack targeting |
| using two sets of whiskers | both macrovibrissae and microvibrissae are required for prey capture (note: The two sets are the macrovibrissae and microvibrissae.) |
| It needs both sets to catch prey | both macrovibrissae and microvibrissae are required for prey capture |

## The neurobiology of Etruscan shrew active touch. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 2011.

https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2011.0160

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| One of the smallest mammals alive, with a heart that has beaten 1,511 times in a minute. | the Etruscan shrew is not only one of the smallest mammals |
| one of the smallest mammals alive | the Etruscan shrew is not only one of the smallest mammals |
| The Etruscan shrew is one of the smallest mammals alive | the Etruscan shrew is not only one of the smallest mammals |
| That is the highest heart rate reported so far for an endotherm, an animal that makes its own body heat | A maximal heart rate of up to 1500 beats per minute exceeds all values reported for other endothermic animals (note: A 2011 review confirms the 1996 record still stood.) |
| A heart that has beaten up to 1,511 times a minute, the highest rate reported for a warm-blooded animal | A maximal heart rate of up to 1500 beats per minute exceeds all values reported for other endothermic animals (note: 2011 review: the record still stood after the 1996 paper.) |
| The shrew can react to prey movement in as little as 25 to 30 milliseconds | can react with latencies as short as 25–30 ms to prey movement |
| Shrews as small as this one need to eat at least every hour | Shrews as small as S. etruscus need to ingest food at least every hour |
| When food is short and the air is cold, they can enter torpor, a state of reduced body temperature and activity that cuts their energy use | in case of food restriction and at low ambient temperature, they can reduce their body temperature and enter a torpid state to cut down their resting energy expenditure. Torpor is defined as a state of decreased physiological activity, usually characterized by a reduced body temperature |

## Roth-Alpermann & Brecht (2009). Vibrissal touch in the Etruscan shrew. Scholarpedia.

https://doi.org/10.4249/scholarpedia.6830

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| The shrew feeds up to 25 times a day and eats more than its own body weight in food | They feed up to 25 times a day and consume more than their own body weight in food. |
| crickets are among its preferred food | crickets are amongst their preferred food |
| long ones that help it aim its attack and short ones around the mouth | The elongated rostrum of the shrew has long whiskers referred to as macrovibrissae (Figure 1 A, B); the shrew’s mouth is surrounded by a dense array of short whiskers, the so-called microvibrissae |
| It can also enter slits as thin as 7 mm to capture prey | they are able to enter and capture prey in slits as thin as 7 millimeters |
| it shelters in old dry stone walls | seek shelter in old dry stone walls, under leaves or pieces of bark on the ground or in loose soil |
| Around the Mediterranean they like abandoned olive groves and vineyards overrun by shrubs | In the Mediterranean region it prefers abandoned olive groves, vineyards, and other cultivated areas overrun by shrubs |