How big does a Northern short-tailed shrew get? Here is an overview over the average adult age:
A grown Northern short-tailed shrew (Blarina brevicauda) reaches an average size of 12.1 cm (0′ 5″).
When born, they have an average size of 0 cm (0′ 0″). Usually, they reach an age of 2.75 years. A full-grown exemplary reaches roughly 18 grams (0.04 lbs). Talking about reproduction, Northern short-tailed shrews have 5 babies about 3 times per year. The Northern short-tailed shrew (genus: Blarina) 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 northern short-tailed shrew (Blarina brevicauda) is the largest shrew in the genus Blarina, and occurs in the northeastern region of North America. It is a semifossorial, highly active, and voracious insectivore and is present in a variety of habitats like broadleaved and pine forests among shrubs and hedges as well as grassy river banks. It is notable in that it is one of the few venomous mammals. The specific epithet, brevicauda, is a combination of the Latin brevis and cauda, meaning “short tail”.
Animals of the same family as a Northern short-tailed shrew
We found other animals of the Soricidae family:
- East African highland shrew with 3 babies per litter
- Tien Shan shrew with a size of 6.5 cm (0′ 3″)
- Ultimate shrew with a weight of 16 grams
- Carmen Mountain shrew with a weight of 4 grams
- Grasse’s shrew with a size of 6.3 cm (0′ 3″)
- African giant shrew with a size of 10.8 cm (0′ 5″)
- Butiaba naked-tailed shrew with 2 babies per litter
- Piebald shrew with 5 babies per litter
- Gracile naked-tailed shrew with a weight of 14 grams
- Geata mouse shrew with 4 babies per litter
Animals with the same size as a Northern short-tailed shrew
Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as Northern short-tailed shrew:
- Moss-forest rat with a size of 12.1 cm (0′ 5″)
- Florida mouse with a size of 10.4 cm (0′ 5″)
- Bishop’s slender opossum with a size of 10.3 cm (0′ 5″)
- Jentink’s flying squirrel with a size of 13.1 cm (0′ 6″)
- Greater Egyptian gerbil with a size of 10.1 cm (0′ 4″)
- Low’s squirrel with a size of 13.7 cm (0′ 6″)
- Chestnut-striped opossum with a size of 13.1 cm (0′ 6″)
- Mindanao shrew-rat with a size of 10.4 cm (0′ 5″)
- Thomas’s mosaic-tailed rat with a size of 14.3 cm (0′ 6″)
- Pygmy mouse lemur with a size of 14.1 cm (0′ 6″)
Animals with the same litter size as a Northern short-tailed shrew
Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (5) as a Northern short-tailed shrew:
- Striped field mouse
- Alston’s cotton rat
- Caucasian snow vole
- Spectacled dormouse
- Townsend’s vole
- Bobrinski’s jerboa
- Yellow ground squirrel
- Northwestern deer mouse
- Large vesper mouse
- Great Balkhan mouse-like hamster
Animals with the same life expectancy as a Northern short-tailed shrew
Completely different animals, but becoming as old as a Northern short-tailed shrew:
- Heermann’s kangaroo rat with an average maximal age of 2.33 years
- Little red kaluta with an average maximal age of 3 years
- Parantechinus bilarni with an average maximal age of 3 years
- Talas tuco-tuco with an average maximal age of 3 years
- African wading rat with an average maximal age of 3 years
- Little long-tailed dunnart with an average maximal age of 3.17 years
- Asian house shrew with an average maximal age of 2.5 years
- Brown antechinus with an average maximal age of 3 years
- Woodland vole with an average maximal age of 2.75 years
- Fawn antechinus with an average maximal age of 2.25 years
Animals with the same weight as a Northern short-tailed shrew
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Blarina brevicauda:
- Blackish white-toothed shrew bringing 20 grams to the scale
- Moon forest shrew bringing 18 grams to the scale
- African smoky mouse bringing 17 grams to the scale
- African pygmy squirrel bringing 16 grams to the scale
- Spiny pocket mouse bringing 16 grams to the scale
- Butiaba naked-tailed shrew bringing 18 grams to the scale
- Ningbing false antechinus bringing 20 grams to the scale
- Asian barbastelle bringing 15 grams to the scale
- Melissa’s yellow-eared bat bringing 16 grams to the scale
- Dwarf fat-tailed mouse opossum bringing 20 grams to the scale