It is hard to guess what a American water shrew weights. But we have the answer:
An adult American water shrew (Sorex palustris) on average weights 13 grams (0.03 lbs).
The American water shrew is from the family Soricidae (genus: Sorex). They can live for up to 1.5 years. When reaching adult age, they grow up to 7.4 cm (0′ 3″). On average, American water shrews can have babies 2 times per year with a litter size of 5.
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 American water shrew (Sorex palustris) or northern water shrew, is found in the nearctic faunal region located throughout the mountain ranges of northern United States and in Canada and Alaska.
Animals of the same family as a American water shrew
We found other animals of the Soricidae family:
- Salenski’s shrew with a weight of 5 grams
- Lesser striped shrew with a size of 6.8 cm (0′ 3″)
- Etruscan shrew with a weight of 2 grams
- Kivu long-haired shrew with 3 babies per litter
- Arizona shrew with a weight of 2 grams
- Zacatecas shrew with a weight of 7 grams
- Goodwin’s broad-clawed shrew with a weight of 7 grams
- Bicolored musk shrew with a weight of 5 grams
- Hodgson’s brown-toothed shrew with a size of 6.5 cm (0′ 3″)
- Hodgson’s brown-toothed shrew with a size of 6.4 cm (0′ 3″)
Animals with the same weight as a American water shrew
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Sorex palustris:
- Brown mastiff bat bringing 15 grams to the scale
- Eastern broad-nosed bat bringing 11 grams to the scale
- Golden bat bringing 12 grams to the scale
- Tomes’s sword-nosed bat bringing 15 grams to the scale
- Fulvous harvest mouse bringing 11 grams to the scale
- Darien harvest mouse bringing 12 grams to the scale
- Gould’s long-eared bat bringing 11 grams to the scale
- Sandy inland mouse bringing 14 grams to the scale
- Dark kangaroo mouse bringing 12 grams to the scale
- Southern birch mouse bringing 11 grams to the scale
Animals with the same size as a American water shrew
Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as American water shrew:
- Grant’s golden mole with a size of 7.6 cm (0′ 3″)
- Grasse’s shrew with a size of 6.3 cm (0′ 3″)
- Olive-backed pocket mouse with a size of 6.9 cm (0′ 3″)
- Iberian shrew with a size of 6.3 cm (0′ 3″)
- Alpine shrew with a size of 6.7 cm (0′ 3″)
- Taiga shrew with a size of 7.5 cm (0′ 3″)
- Triaenops rufus with a size of 8.7 cm (0′ 4″)
- Dark kangaroo mouse with a size of 7.2 cm (0′ 3″)
- Greater mouse-eared bat with a size of 7.2 cm (0′ 3″)
- Chinese shrew mole with a size of 7.2 cm (0′ 3″)
Animals with the same litter size as a American water shrew
Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (5) as a American water shrew:
- Long-clawed shrew
- Piebald shrew
- New Guinean rat
- Wongai ningaui
- Shaw’s jird
- Southern red-backed vole
- Woosnam’s broad-headed mouse
- Southern red-backed vole
- Grey red-backed vole
- Wood mouse
Animals with the same life expectancy as a American water shrew
Completely different animals, but becoming as old as a American water shrew:
- Texas mouse with an average maximal age of 1.5 years
- Crawford’s gray shrew with an average maximal age of 1.25 years
- Arctic shrew with an average maximal age of 1.5 years
- Southern red-backed vole with an average maximal age of 1.67 years
- Brush mouse with an average maximal age of 1.5 years
- Long-clawed shrew with an average maximal age of 1.5 years
- Trowbridge’s shrew with an average maximal age of 1.5 years
- Aegialomys galapagoensis with an average maximal age of 1.67 years
- Atlantic bamboo rat with an average maximal age of 1.58 years
- Common yellow-toothed cavy with an average maximal age of 1.75 years