It is hard to guess what a Etruscan shrew weights. But we have the answer:
An adult Etruscan shrew (Suncus etruscus) on average weights 2 grams (0 lbs).
The Etruscan shrew is from the family Soricidae (genus: Suncus). They can live for up to 2.67 years. When reaching adult age, they grow up to 16.5 cm (0′ 7″). On average, Etruscan shrews can have babies 3 times per year with a litter size of 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 Etruscan shrew (Suncus etruscus), also known as the Etruscan pygmy shrew or the white-toothed pygmy shrew, is the smallest known mammal by mass, weighing only about 1.8 grams (0.063 oz) on average. (The bumblebee bat is regarded as the smallest mammal by skull size and body length.)The Etruscan shrew has a body length of about 4 centimetres (1.6 in) excluding the tail. It is characterized by very rapid movements and a fast metabolism, eating about 1.5–2 times its own body weight per day. It feeds on various small vertebrates and invertebrates, mostly insects, and can hunt individuals of the same size as itself. These shrews prefer warm and damp climates and are widely distributed in the belt between 10° and 30°N latitude stretching from Europe and North Africa up to Malaysia. They are also found in the Maltese islands, situated in the middle of the Mediterranean sea. Although widespread and not threatened overall, they are generally uncommon and are endangered in some countries.
Animals of the same family as a Etruscan shrew
We found other animals of the Soricidae family:
- Greater forest shrew with a weight of 16 grams
- Geata mouse shrew with a weight of 9 grams
- Dent’s shrew with a weight of 4 grams
- Dwarf shrew with a weight of 2 grams
- Large-toothed shrew with a weight of 8 grams
- Scaly-footed small-eared shrew with a weight of 11 grams
- Makwassie musk shrew with a weight of 6 grams
- Southern short-tailed shrew with a weight of 11 grams
- Japanese water shrew with a weight of 35 grams
- Japanese water shrew with a weight of 36 grams
Animals with the same weight as a Etruscan shrew
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Suncus etruscus:
- Mauritanian shrew bringing 2 grams to the scale
- Nyctophilus geoffroyi bringing 2 grams to the scale
- Madagascan pygmy shrew bringing 2 grams to the scale
- Desert pipistrelle bringing 2 grams to the scale
- Flat-headed shrew bringing 2 grams to the scale
- Pipistrellus mimus bringing 2 grams to the scale
- Dark sheath-tailed bat bringing 2 grams to the scale
- Eurasian least shrew bringing 2 grams to the scale
- Tiny pipistrelle bringing 2 grams to the scale
- Least woolly bat bringing 2 grams to the scale
Animals with the same litter size as a Etruscan shrew
Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (4) as a Etruscan shrew:
- Alpine marmot
- Lesser short-tailed gerbil
- White-nosed coati
- Short-tailed bandicoot rat
- Black-tailed gerbil
- Atherton antechinus
- Gunnison’s prairie dog
- Pygmy spotted skunk
- Hoary marmot
- Wolf
Animals with the same life expectancy as a Etruscan shrew
Completely different animals, but becoming as old as a Etruscan shrew:
- Highland streaked tenrec with an average maximal age of 2.58 years
- New Guinean quoll with an average maximal age of 3 years
- White-footed dunnart with an average maximal age of 2.5 years
- Greater white-toothed shrew with an average maximal age of 3.17 years
- Tome’s spiny rat with an average maximal age of 2.58 years
- Common vole with an average maximal age of 3 years
- Japanese mountain mole with an average maximal age of 3 years
- North African elephant shrew with an average maximal age of 3 years
- Australian swamp rat with an average maximal age of 2.42 years
- Salt marsh harvest mouse with an average maximal age of 2.58 years