How big does a Marsh shrew get? Here is an overview over the average adult age:
A grown Marsh shrew (Sorex bendirii) reaches an average size of 8.5 cm (0′ 4″).
When born, they have an average size of 0 cm (0′ 0″). A full-grown exemplary reaches roughly 15 grams (0.03 lbs). The Marsh shrew (genus: Sorex) is a member of the family Soricidae.
As a reference: Humans reach an average body size of 1.65m (5′ 5″) while carrying 62 kg (137 lbs). A human woman is pregnant for 280 days (40 weeks) and on average become 75 years old.
The marsh shrew (Sorex bendirii), also known as the Pacific water shrew, Bendire’s water shrew, Bendire’s shrew and Jesus shrew is the largest North American member of the genus Sorex (long-tailed shrews). Primarily covered in dark-brown fur, it is found near aquatic habitats along the Pacific coast from southern British Columbia to northern California. With air trapped in its fur for buoyancy, marsh shrews can run for three to five seconds on top of the water. It measures about 16 cm (6.3 in) in length, including a 7-centimetre (2.8 in)-long tail, and weighs an average of 14.5–16 g (0.51–0.56 oz). The marsh shrew’s diet consists mainly of invertebrates, which it hunts on land and in the water. They are rare; their populations are thought to be in decline, and they are considered endangered in parts of their range.
Animals of the same family as a Marsh shrew
We found other animals of the Soricidae family:
- Long-tailed shrew with a size of 5.5 cm (0′ 3″)
- Horsfield’s shrew with a size of 6.4 cm (0′ 3″)
- Japanese water shrew with a size of 11.6 cm (0′ 5″)
- Piebald shrew with 5 babies per litter
- Lesser striped shrew with a size of 6.8 cm (0′ 3″)
- Mindanao shrew with a weight of 10 grams
- Johnston’s forest shrew with a size of 5.3 cm (0′ 3″)
- Prairie shrew with 7 babies per litter
- Canarian shrew with a weight of 7 grams
- Peters’s musk shrew with 2 babies per litter
Animals with the same size as a Marsh shrew
Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as Marsh shrew:
- Robert’s hocicudo with a size of 10 cm (0′ 4″)
- Siberian large-toothed shrew with a size of 7.1 cm (0′ 3″)
- Southern red-sided opossum with a size of 7.2 cm (0′ 3″)
- Usambara shrew with a size of 7.9 cm (0′ 4″)
- Olive grass mouse with a size of 9.6 cm (0′ 4″)
- Woodland vole with a size of 9.9 cm (0′ 4″)
- Yellow-sided opossum with a size of 9.9 cm (0′ 4″)
- Mount Isarog shrew-mouse with a size of 7 cm (0′ 3″)
- Black-eared squirrel with a size of 9.5 cm (0′ 4″)
- Nicaraguan harvest mouse with a size of 7.1 cm (0′ 3″)
Animals with the same weight as a Marsh shrew
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Sorex bendirii:
- Greater ghost bat bringing 12 grams to the scale
- New Zealand lesser short-tailed bat bringing 13 grams to the scale
- Greater long-fingered bat bringing 14 grams to the scale
- Buffy flower bat bringing 16 grams to the scale
- Dark-footed mouse shrew bringing 12 grams to the scale
- Taiva shrew tenrec bringing 12 grams to the scale
- Big naked-backed bat bringing 13 grams to the scale
- Rufous trident bat bringing 13 grams to the scale
- Lesser mouse-tailed bat bringing 13 grams to the scale
- Dwarf bonneted bat bringing 12 grams to the scale