It is hard to guess what a Marsh shrew weights. But we have the answer:
An adult Marsh shrew (Sorex bendirii) on average weights 15 grams (0.03 lbs).
The Marsh shrew is from the family Soricidae (genus: Sorex). When reaching adult age, they grow up to 8.5 cm (0′ 4″).
As a reference: An average human weights in at 62 kg (137 lbs) and reaches an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″). Humans spend 280 days (40 weeks) in the womb of their mother and reach around 75 years of age.
The marsh shrew (Sorex bendirii), also known as the Pacific water shrew, Bendire’s water shrew, Bendire’s shrew and Jesus shrew is the largest North American member of the genus Sorex (long-tailed shrews). Primarily covered in dark-brown fur, it is found near aquatic habitats along the Pacific coast from southern British Columbia to northern California. With air trapped in its fur for buoyancy, marsh shrews can run for three to five seconds on top of the water. It measures about 16 cm (6.3 in) in length, including a 7-centimetre (2.8 in)-long tail, and weighs an average of 14.5–16 g (0.51–0.56 oz). The marsh shrew’s diet consists mainly of invertebrates, which it hunts on land and in the water. They are rare; their populations are thought to be in decline, and they are considered endangered in parts of their range.
Animals of the same family as a Marsh shrew
We found other animals of the Soricidae family:
- Apennine shrew with a weight of 8 grams
- Swamp musk shrew with a weight of 10 grams
- Wimmer’s shrew with a weight of 23 grams
- Lesser white-toothed shrew with a weight of 7 grams
- Bicolored musk shrew with a weight of 5 grams
- Savanna dwarf shrew with a weight of 6 grams
- Ludia’s shrew with a weight of 5 grams
- Saharan shrew with a weight of 6 grams
- Taiwanese brown-toothed shrew with a weight of 6 grams
- Common shrew with a weight of 9 grams
Animals with the same weight as a Marsh shrew
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Sorex bendirii:
- Dollman’s tree mouse bringing 12 grams to the scale
- Velvety free-tailed bat bringing 13 grams to the scale
- Greater long-tailed hamster bringing 13 grams to the scale
- Mindanao pygmy fruit bat bringing 16 grams to the scale
- Montane white-toothed shrew bringing 14 grams to the scale
- Pond bat bringing 15 grams to the scale
- Common planigale bringing 12 grams to the scale
- Intermediate horseshoe bat bringing 13 grams to the scale
- Sierra Leone free-tailed bat bringing 16 grams to the scale
- Slender-tailed dunnart bringing 17 grams to the scale
Animals with the same size as a Marsh shrew
Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as Marsh shrew:
- Juliana’s golden mole with a size of 10 cm (0′ 4″)
- Jamaican fruit bat with a size of 7.8 cm (0′ 4″)
- Greater false vampire bat with a size of 7.3 cm (0′ 3″)
- Bailey’s pocket mouse with a size of 9.4 cm (0′ 4″)
- Northern ghost bat with a size of 7 cm (0′ 3″)
- Olive grass mouse with a size of 9.6 cm (0′ 4″)
- Wood sprite gracile opossum with a size of 9.5 cm (0′ 4″)
- Ranee mouse with a size of 7.5 cm (0′ 3″)
- Plains pocket mouse with a size of 6.9 cm (0′ 3″)
- Spinifex hopping mouse with a size of 10 cm (0′ 4″)