How many baby American pygmy shrews are in a litter?
A American pygmy shrew (Sorex hoyi) usually gives birth to around 5 babies.With 1 litters per year, that sums up to a yearly offspring of 5 babies.
Upon birth, they weight 90 grams (0.2 lbs) and measure 2.5 cm (0′ 1″). They are a member of the Soricidae family (genus: Sorex). An adult American pygmy shrew grows up to a size of 5.3 cm (0′ 3″).
To have a reference: Humans obviously usually have a litter size of one ;). Their babies are in the womb of their mother for 280 days (40 weeks) and reach an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″). They weight in at 62 kg (137 lbs), which is obviously highly individual, and reach an average age of 75 years.
The American pygmy shrew (Sorex hoyi) is a small shrew found in Northern Alaska, Canada, and the northern United States, south through the Appalachian Mountains. It was first discovered in 1831 by naturalist William Cane in Georgian Bay, Parry Sound.This animal is found in northern coniferous and deciduous forests of North America. It is believed to be the second-smallest mammal in the world, but has an extremely large appetite for its size. Due to its fast metabolism, it needs to eat constantly. It digs through moist soils and decaying leaf litter for food.
Other animals of the family Soricidae
American pygmy shrew is a member of the Soricidae, as are these animals:
- Greater stripe-backed shrew with 4 babies per pregnancy
- Flat-skulled shrew with 7 babies per pregnancy
- Piebald shrew with 5 babies per pregnancy
- Ludia’s shrew weighting only 5 grams
- Volcano shrew weighting only 3 grams
- Iberian shrew with 4 babies per pregnancy
- Montane white-toothed shrew weighting only 14 grams
- Southeastern shrew with 3 babies per pregnancy
- Kelaart’s long-clawed shrew weighting only 36 grams
- Bicolored shrew with 3 babies per pregnancy
Animals that share a litter size with American pygmy shrew
Those animals also give birth to 5 babies at once:
- Smoky shrew
- Fat-tailed false antechinus
- Douglas squirrel
- Olive grass mouse
- Eurasian harvest mouse
- Mongolian hamster
- Wyoming ground squirrel
- Grey red-backed vole
- Persian jird
- Dalton’s mouse
Animals with the same weight as a American pygmy shrew
What other animals weight around 3 grams (0.01 lbs)?
- Heller’s pipistrelle weighting 3 grams
- Thumbless bat weighting 3 grams
- Little forest bat weighting 3 grams
- Johnston’s forest shrew weighting 3 grams
- Long-tailed shrew weighting 3 grams
- Philippine pygmy roundleaf bat weighting 3 grams
- Volcano shrew weighting 3 grams
- Whiskered bat weighting 3 grams
- Bahaman funnel-eared bat weighting 3 grams
- Tiny yellow bat weighting 3 grams
Animals with the same size as a American pygmy shrew
Also reaching around 5.3 cm (0′ 3″) in size do these animals:
- Crawford’s gray shrew gets as big as 6.1 cm (0′ 3″)
- Inyo shrew gets as big as 5.2 cm (0′ 3″)
- Eurasian pygmy shrew gets as big as 5.7 cm (0′ 3″)
- Merriam’s kangaroo rat gets as big as 4.9 cm (0′ 2″)
- Lesser mouse-tailed bat gets as big as 5.9 cm (0′ 3″)
- Underwood’s long-tongued bat gets as big as 5.9 cm (0′ 3″)
- Velvety free-tailed bat gets as big as 6 cm (0′ 3″)
- Daubenton’s bat gets as big as 4.4 cm (0′ 2″)
- Egyptian slit-faced bat gets as big as 5.2 cm (0′ 3″)
- Allen’s big-eared bat gets as big as 5.9 cm (0′ 3″)