• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
The Mammal Society

The Mammal Society

For Evidence Based Conservation

    • E-mail
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • YouTube

 

  • Home
  • About
    • What We Do
    • News
    • Blog
    • Meet The Team
    • FAQs
    • Media Information & Press Releases
  • Science
    • Research
      • Are Britain’s wild animals eating plastics?
      • PROSIECT ADFER LYGOD DWY YNG NGHYMRU/ WATER VOLE RESEARCH PROJECT.
      • Harvest Mouse Project
      • Hedgehog hotspots
      • State of Nature 2019
      • Population Review 2018
      • Red List for Britain’s Mammals
      • Surveys and Projects
    • Publications
      • Mammal Review
      • Mammal Communications
      • Mammal News Magazine
      • Books and equipment
    • Ecostat
    • UK Mammal List
    • Students
  • Training
    • Courses
    • Events
  • Record Mammals
    • How To Record Mammals
    • Mammal Mapper
    • School Resources
    • Discover Mammals
    • County Mammal Recorders
  • Get Involved
    • Surveys and Projects
    • Local Groups
    • Mammal Photographer of the Year (MPOY)
    • The University Mammal Challenge (UMAC)
    • National Mammal Week
  • Support Us
    • Latest Appeal
    • Donations
    • Membership
    • Fundraise for us!
    • Leave a Legacy
    • Corporate Supporters
    • Books and equipment
    • Other Ways To Support Us
  • Join Us
  • Donate

Mammal Week 2019 – Lesser white-toothed shrews

21st October 2019

Shrewly awesome!

by Carl Knight

Hi my name is Carl and I am a volunteer here at the Mammal Society. I have just completed my undergraduate degree in Mathematics at the University of Sussex and am hoping to go on to complete a Masters in either Zoology or Ecology.

I have always found shrews fascinating so for Mammal Week I am writing about the little known lesser white-toothed shrew. The lesser white-toothed shrew (Crocidura suaveolens), is a tiny shrew with a widespread distribution in Europe, parts of Asia and North Africa. The Mammal Society‘s 2018 recent review into the Population and Conservation Status of British Mammals and subsequent Red List listed the lesser white-toothed shrew as ‘Near Threatened’ in Great Britain overall, and specifically in England. Although this species was likely introduced to Britain by Iron Age traders from France or northern Spain it has since naturalised. However, currently it is only found on the Isles of Scilly, Jersey and Sark.

Photo by Murray Guy

What’s in a Name?

Although their species name means ‘sweet smelling’ (suaveolens), quite the opposite is true! In fact, their pungent smell is often the best indicator of presence; so much so that they are also known as the ‘musk shrew’ because of the strong smell they produce to mark their territories.

Most shrews have red-tipped teeth due to the presence of iron in the tooth enamel. However, as their name suggests, lesser white-toothed shrews have white teeth instead! They also have light grey-brown fur, large ears and bristly hairs interspersed with long, white ones, covering their tail. Interestingly, the name (Crocidura) means “woolly tail”!

How small?!

Also eluded to in its name is its size. There are two white-toothed shrews, the lesser and greater, with, you guessed it, the lesser being smaller than the greater. Lesser white-toothed shrews range from 7.5-13.5 cm in length with the tail making up roughly a third of this. Although not the smallest shrew, it is still extremely light, weighing just 6 grams on average! To put that into perspective, a 10 pence coin weighs exactly 6.5 grams. In comparison, greater white-toothed shrews (Crocidura russula) range from 9.5-15.5cm in length and weigh about 12.5 grams on average.

Lesser and greater white-toothed shrews are commonly confused species and are very hard to tell apart. In Great Britain, greater white-toothed shrews are only found in Ireland, but they are not native there. In a 2014 study, Allan McDevitt (a Mammal Society Council Member) and colleagues modelled the rate at which the greater white-toothed shrew was expanding across Ireland. McDevitt et al. found that the invasive shrew was expanding at a rate of 5 km per year, and now occurs in seven counties in Ireland (Tipperary, Limerick, Cork, Waterford, Kilkenny, Offaly and Laois). This is endangering the native pygmy shrew which simply cannot compete for resources with this much larger species of shrew.

To read the full paper: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0100403 

Even smaller?!

Mating usually occurs from March to September and 2-4 litters of up to 5 pups are born after a gestation period of 24-32 days. The young weigh only 0.5 g at birth but are weaned at about 4 weeks and the female may be pregnant whilst still feeding her last brood. Lesser white-toothed shrews are born blind and thus like common shrews, a female lesser white-toothed shrew and her young may form a “caravan” when foraging for food or seeking a place of safety; each shrew grips the tail of the shrew in front so that the group stays together.

You can see this amazing phenomenon below!

 

Go to our National Mammal Week page to find out what’s happening each day this Mammal Week! Make sure you are following #MammalWeek and #MammalsMatter and keeping an eye on our social media feeds for all things Mammal Week related. You wouldn’t want to miss out on our prizes would you?!

STAY IN THE KNOW
Subscribe to our mailing list and receive regular e-bulletin packed full of mammal news and ways you can get involved with mammal conservation

Subscribe to our mailing list

* indicates required
Slider

Footer

  • Contact Us
  • Vacancies
  • Position Statements
  • AGM, Reports and Accounts
  • Data Protection
  • Privacy Policy
  • GDPR Information
  • GDPR Opt In

Sponsors

cj-wildlife-logo

Copyright © 2021 The Mammal Society, Black Horse Cottage, 33 Milton Abbas, Blandford Forum, Dorset DT11 0BL .... Registered Company No. 1455136 Charity No. 278918
Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions
Design by Fingerprint Digital Media