Categories
Animal Weight

How much does a Eurasian pygmy shrew weight?

It is hard to guess what a Eurasian pygmy shrew weights. But we have the answer:

An adult Eurasian pygmy shrew (Sorex minutus) on average weights 4 grams (0.01 lbs).

The Eurasian pygmy shrew is from the family Soricidae (genus: Sorex). They can live for up to 2 years. When reaching adult age, they grow up to 5.7 cm (0′ 3″). On average, Eurasian pygmy shrews can have babies 1 times per year with a litter size of 6.

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 average adult weight of a Eurasian pygmy shrew is 4 grams (0.01 lbs)

The Eurasian pygmy shrew (Sorex minutus), often known simply as the pygmy shrew, is a widespread shrew of northern Eurasia. It is the only shrew native to Ireland.Active throughout the day and night, the Eurasian pygmy shrew lives in undergrowth and leaf litter and lives off small insects and invertebrates. It has an average weight of 4 grams and has one of the highest metabolic rates of any animal, meaning it must eat at regular intervals — every two hours or so.The breeding season lasts from April through to August. Females usually produce between two and eight young per litter and care for the young in an underground nest. Since the gestation period is just over three weeks, they can have up to five litters in one year, though the life span of a pygmy shrew is a little over 15 months.In April 2008, the greater white-toothed shrew was discovered in Ireland. While the introduction of the species will possibly sustain threatened birds of prey, such as the barn owl, the nonnative mammal could threaten some of the smaller native species, such as the Eurasian pygmy shrew.

Animals of the same family as a Eurasian pygmy shrew

We found other animals of the Soricidae family:

Animals with the same weight as a Eurasian pygmy shrew

As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Sorex minutus:

Animals with the same size as a Eurasian pygmy shrew

Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as Eurasian pygmy shrew:

Animals with the same litter size as a Eurasian pygmy shrew

Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (6) as a Eurasian pygmy shrew:

Animals with the same life expectancy as a Eurasian pygmy shrew

Completely different animals, but becoming as old as a Eurasian pygmy shrew: