It is hard to guess what a Asian house shrew weights. But we have the answer:
An adult Asian house shrew (Suncus murinus) on average weights 43 grams (0.09 lbs).
The Asian house shrew is from the family Soricidae (genus: Suncus). It is usually born with about 2 grams (0 lbs). They can live for up to 2.5 years. When reaching adult age, they grow up to 12.6 cm (0′ 5″). On average, Asian house shrews can have babies 9 times per year with a litter size of 3.
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 Asian house shrew (Suncus murinus), house shrew, grey musk shrew, Asian musk shrew or Indian musk shrew is a widespread, adaptable species of shrew found mainly in South Asia but introduced widely throughout Asia and eastern Africa. It is a large shrew with a strong musk smell, and is related to the Etruscan shrew.This species is locally called chuchunder in India and is mentioned in Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Book, as a nocturnal inhabitant of houses in India, by the name of chuchundra. However, Kipling’s mistaken use of the name ‘musk rat’ has led to confusion with the unrelated North American muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus), and the latter species, not found in India, was (erroneously) illustrated in the Jungle Book.This house shrew is categorized as a species of Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. It is also considered an invasive species and implicated in the demise of several island lizard species.
Animals of the same family as a Asian house shrew
We found other animals of the Soricidae family:
- Inyo shrew with a weight of 3 grams
- Hero shrew with a weight of 91 grams
- Crowned shrew with a weight of 9 grams
- Dark-footed mouse shrew with a weight of 12 grams
- Greater forest shrew with a weight of 16 grams
- Myosorex varius with a weight of 11 grams
- Chinese mole shrew with a weight of 20 grams
- Long-tailed musk shrew with a weight of 5 grams
- Kelaart’s long-clawed shrew with a weight of 36 grams
- Jouvenet’s shrew with a weight of 9 grams
Animals with the same weight as a Asian house shrew
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Suncus murinus:
- Himalayan striped squirrel bringing 45 grams to the scale
- Mountain tube-nosed fruit bat bringing 43 grams to the scale
- Akodon sylvanus bringing 39 grams to the scale
- Andean big-eared mouse bringing 38 grams to the scale
- Large myotis bringing 42 grams to the scale
- Lesser musky fruit bat bringing 47 grams to the scale
- Djoongari bringing 43 grams to the scale
- White-striped free-tailed bat bringing 36 grams to the scale
- Brazilian shrew mouse bringing 36 grams to the scale
- Eastern broad-toothed field mouse bringing 43 grams to the scale
Animals with the same size as a Asian house shrew
Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as Asian house shrew:
- Broad-striped dasyure with a size of 12.9 cm (0′ 6″)
- Red-cheeked dunnart with a size of 11 cm (0′ 5″)
- Ghost bat with a size of 11.5 cm (0′ 5″)
- Woolly dormouse with a size of 10.5 cm (0′ 5″)
- Four-striped grass mouse with a size of 10.8 cm (0′ 5″)
- Seram long-tailed mosaic-tailed rat with a size of 14.7 cm (0′ 6″)
- Temminck’s striped mouse with a size of 12.1 cm (0′ 5″)
- African wading rat with a size of 12.5 cm (0′ 5″)
- Congo rope squirrel with a size of 14.7 cm (0′ 6″)
- Big-eared kangaroo rat with a size of 12.7 cm (0′ 5″)
Animals with the same litter size as a Asian house shrew
Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (3) as a Asian house shrew:
- Desert kangaroo rat
- Short-tailed mongoose
- Mazama pocket gopher
- Comb-toed jerboa
- Capybara
- Malayan field rat
- Red rock rat
- Texas mouse
- Major’s pine vole
- Balochistan gerbil
Animals with the same life expectancy as a Asian house shrew
Completely different animals, but becoming as old as a Asian house shrew:
- Red-tailed phascogale with an average maximal age of 3 years
- Eurasian pygmy shrew with an average maximal age of 2 years
- Southern Plains woodrat with an average maximal age of 2.25 years
- Dusky antechinus with an average maximal age of 2 years
- Heermann’s kangaroo rat with an average maximal age of 2.33 years
- African wading rat with an average maximal age of 3 years
- Bennett’s chinchilla rat with an average maximal age of 2.25 years
- Narrow-nosed planigale with an average maximal age of 3 years
- Northern short-tailed shrew with an average maximal age of 2.75 years
- Bicolored shrew with an average maximal age of 3 years