What family are shrews in?
family Soricidae
shrew, (family Soricidae), any of more than 350 species of insectivores having a mobile snout that is covered with long sensitive whiskers and overhangs the lower lip. Their large incisor teeth are used like forceps to grab prey; the upper pair is hooked, and the lower pair extends forward.
What is the most species rich family in the Eulipotyphla?
The red‐toothed shrews of the genus Sorex are one of the most successful lineages of the family Soricidae, being the most species‐rich (more than 75 species, Hutterer, 2005) and widespread group within the subfamily Soricinae.
What does it mean to call someone a shrew?
Use the noun shrew — at your own risk — to refer to a woman who is argumentative, nagging, and ill tempered. Superstitions associated with this small mammal led people in the thirteenth century to use the word shrew to describe a spiteful person, male or female.
Is hedgehog a shrew?
A hedgehog is a spiny mammal of the subfamily Erinaceinae, in the eulipotyphlan family Erinaceidae. Hedgehogs share distant ancestry with shrews (family Soricidae), with gymnures possibly being the intermediate link, and they have changed little over the last fifteen million years.
Is a shrew a carnivore?
The common shrew’s carnivorous and insectivorous diet consists of insects, slugs, spiders, worms, amphibians and small rodents. Shrews need to consume 200 to 300% of their body weight in food each day in order to survive. A shrew must eat every 2 to 3 hours to achieve this goal.
How many species are in Eulipotyphla?
450 species
Eulipotyphla – shrews, moles, hedgehogs There are about 450 species in this order. Most species are small and eat insects, although many species eat worms, crustaceans, and small vertebrates. This order was once called the Insectivora order.
Why is a shrew not a rodent?
Although its external appearance is generally that of a long-nosed mouse, a shrew is not a rodent, as mice are. Shrews have sharp, spike-like teeth, not the familiar gnawing front incisor teeth of rodents.
What animals are shrews related to?
Although its external appearance is generally that of a long-nosed mouse, a shrew is not a rodent, as mice are. It is, in fact, a much closer relative of hedgehogs and moles; shrews are related to rodents only in that both belong to the Boreoeutheria magnorder.
What is a group of shrews called?
What is a group of shrews called? A dole, flight or piteousness.
Is a hedgehog a mole?
Eulipotyphla comprises the hedgehogs and gymnures (family Erinaceidae, formerly also the order Erinaceomorpha), solenodons (family Solenodontidae), the desmans, moles, and shrew-like moles (family Talpidae) and true shrews (family Soricidae).
Is hedgehog a reptile?
Hedgehogs are small mammals with cone-shaped faces, short legs and bodies that are covered with porcupine-like quills. Unlike porcupines, hedgehog quills are not easily detached from their bodies, according to Animal Planet.