It is hard to guess what a Eurasian water shrew weights. But we have the answer:
An adult Eurasian water shrew (Neomys fodiens) on average weights 15 grams (0.03 lbs).
The Eurasian water shrew is from the family Soricidae (genus: Neomys). They can live for up to 3 years. When reaching adult age, they grow up to 8.1 cm (0′ 4″). On average, Eurasian water shrews can have babies 2 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 Eurasian water shrew (Neomys fodiens), known in the United Kingdom as the water shrew, is a relatively large shrew, up to 10 cm (4 in) long, with a tail up to three-quarters as long again. It has short, dark fur, often with a few white tufts, a white belly, and a few stiff hairs around the feet and tail. It lives close to fresh water, hunting aquatic prey in the water and nearby. Its fur traps bubbles of air in the water which greatly aids its buoyancy, but requires it to anchor itself to remain underwater for more than the briefest of dives.Like many shrews, the water shrew has venomous saliva, making it one of the few venomous mammals, although it is not able to puncture the skin of large animals, nor that of humans. Highly territorial, it lives a solitary life and is found throughout the northern part of Europe and Asia, from Britain to Korea.
Animals of the same family as a Eurasian water shrew
We found other animals of the Soricidae family:
- Long-tailed shrew with a weight of 4 grams
- Lesser white-toothed shrew with a weight of 7 grams
- Jackson’s shrew with a weight of 7 grams
- Mindanao shrew with a weight of 10 grams
- Hodgson’s brown-toothed shrew with a size of 6.5 cm (0′ 3″)
- Piebald shrew with a weight of 11 grams
- Gansu shrew with a size of 8 cm (0′ 4″)
- Wandering small-eared shrew with a weight of 11 grams
- Myosorex varius with a weight of 11 grams
- Butiaba naked-tailed shrew with a weight of 18 grams
Animals with the same weight as a Eurasian water shrew
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Neomys fodiens:
- Tickell’s bat bringing 16 grams to the scale
- Lakeland Downs mouse bringing 17 grams to the scale
- African pygmy squirrel bringing 16 grams to the scale
- Common planigale bringing 12 grams to the scale
- Peale’s free-tailed bat bringing 18 grams to the scale
- Greater forest shrew bringing 16 grams to the scale
- Mexican free-tailed bat bringing 12 grams to the scale
- Southeast Asian shrew bringing 12 grams to the scale
- Long-tongued nectar bat bringing 16 grams to the scale
- Intermediate horseshoe bat bringing 13 grams to the scale
Animals with the same size as a Eurasian water shrew
Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as Eurasian water shrew:
- Least pygmy squirrel with a size of 8.3 cm (0′ 4″)
- Wilson’s spiny mouse with a size of 8 cm (0′ 4″)
- Campbell’s dwarf hamster with a size of 9.1 cm (0′ 4″)
- Large-eared tenrec with a size of 7.1 cm (0′ 3″)
- True’s shrew mole with a size of 6.5 cm (0′ 3″)
- Chinese dormouse with a size of 9.1 cm (0′ 4″)
- Japanese mountain mole with a size of 9 cm (0′ 4″)
- North African gerbil with a size of 9 cm (0′ 4″)
- One-toothed shrew mouse with a size of 9 cm (0′ 4″)
- Wandering small-eared shrew with a size of 7.9 cm (0′ 4″)
Animals with the same litter size as a Eurasian water shrew
Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (6) as a Eurasian water shrew:
- Common shrew
- Stoat
- Bobak marmot
- Siberian weasel
- California ground squirrel
- Wyoming pocket gopher
- Little red kaluta
- Harris’s antelope squirrel
- Afghan pika
- Roborovski dwarf hamster
Animals with the same life expectancy as a Eurasian water shrew
Completely different animals, but becoming as old as a Eurasian water shrew:
- Chestnut tree mouse with an average maximal age of 2.42 years
- Japanese mole with an average maximal age of 3.5 years
- Dibatag with an average maximal age of 3 years
- Lesser white-toothed shrew with an average maximal age of 2.67 years
- Japanese mountain mole with an average maximal age of 3 years
- Southern bog lemming with an average maximal age of 2.5 years
- Common vole with an average maximal age of 3 years
- Gray four-eyed opossum with an average maximal age of 3.5 years
- Long-nosed echymipera with an average maximal age of 2.83 years
- Winter white dwarf hamster with an average maximal age of 3.17 years