How many baby Hero shrews are in a litter?
A Hero shrew (Scutisorex somereni) usually gives birth to around 1 babies.
Upon birth, they weight 6 grams (0.01 lbs) and measure 1.6 cm (0′ 1″). They are a member of the Soricidae family (genus: Scutisorex). An adult Hero shrew grows up to a size of 23.6 cm (0′ 10″).
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 hero shrew (Scutisorex somereni), also known as the armored shrew, is a large shrew native to the Congo Basin of Africa. Its features are typical of a white-toothed shrew − short legs, slender snout, dense fur − except for a highly unusual spinal column. It has corrugated interlocking vertebrae that are unique among mammals except for its sister species, Thor’s hero shrew. This unique adaptation allows the animal to bear a huge amount of weight on its back − 72 kg (159 lb) according to an expedition team.The hero shrew lives in both lowland and mountain forests. They live in the undergrowth, feeding primarily on invertebrates. The evolutionary benefit of its unusual spine is not known; it is hypothesized that it allows the animal to push itself under logs and between palm leaves and the tree’s trunk to find food. The hero shrew is believed to hold magical powers by the local tribes. It is classified as Least Concern by IUCN.
Other animals of the family Soricidae
Hero shrew is a member of the Soricidae, as are these animals:
- Goodwin’s broad-clawed shrew weighting only 7 grams
- Mexican shrew weighting only 11 grams
- Smoky white-toothed shrew with 3 babies per pregnancy
- Kongana shrew weighting only 5 grams
- Large-eared gray shrew weighting only 5 grams
- Butiaba naked-tailed shrew with 2 babies per pregnancy
- Volcano shrew weighting only 3 grams
- Greater forest shrew weighting only 16 grams
- Taiwanese brown-toothed shrew with 3 babies per pregnancy
- Yankari shrew weighting only 5 grams
Animals that share a litter size with Hero shrew
Those animals also give birth to 1 babies at once:
- Javan rusa
- Big hairy armadillo
- Ryukyu flying fox
- Grandidier’s mongoose
- Moluccan naked-backed fruit bat
- Hawaiian monk seal
- Zempoaltepec deer mouse
- Ocelot
- Common wallaroo
- Northern bettong
Animals with the same weight as a Hero shrew
What other animals weight around 91 grams (0.2 lbs)?
- California kangaroo rat weighting 85 grams
- Kalinowski’s Oldfield mouse weighting 77 grams
- Long-haired rousette weighting 104 grams
- Voalavoanala weighting 97 grams
- Bush vlei rat weighting 102 grams
- Patagonian opossum weighting 78 grams
- Bunny rat weighting 79 grams
- Bare-backed rousette weighting 92 grams
- Oecomys trinitatis weighting 73 grams
- Oldfield white-bellied rat weighting 81 grams