View source for Eurasian pygmy shrew

{{Taxobox
| name = Eurasian pygmy shrew<ref name=msw3>{{MSW3 Hutterer | pages = 292}}</ref>
| image = Sorex minutus.jpg
| image_caption =
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name= iucn>{{IUCN2006|assessor=Insectivore Specialist Group|year=1996|id=29667|title=Sorex minutus|downloaded=2006-05-12}}Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is of least concern</ref>
| regnum = [[Animalia]]
| phylum = [[Chordata]]
| classis = [[Mammalia]]
| ordo = [[Eulipotyphla]]
| familia = [[Soricidae]]
| genus = ''[[Sorex]]''
| species = '''''S. minutus'''''
| binomial = ''Sorex minutus''
| binomial_authority = [[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], 1766
| range_map = Eurasian Pygmy Shrew area.png
| range_map_caption = Eurasian pygmy shrew range
}}

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]].<ref name= "irish mammals">{{cite web |url=http://homepage.eircom.net/~edrice/mammals/shrew.htm |title=Irish mammals &mdash; the Pygmy Shrew |accessdate=2007-12-27}}</ref>

Active throughout the day and night, the Eurasian pygmy shrew lives in undergrowth and leaf litter and lives off small insects and invertebrates.<ref name= "uk safari">{{cite web |url= http://www.uksafari.com/pygmyshrews.htm |title=UK safari on Pygmy shrews |accessdate=2007-12-27}}</ref> It has an average weight of 4 grams<ref name= "irish mammals"/> and has one of the highest metabolic rates of any animal, meaning it must eat at regular intervals &mdash; every two hours or so.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://phibius-log.blogspot.com/2007/07/sorex-minutus.html |title=Phibius-log.blogspot.com &mdash; Sorex minutus |accessdate=2007-12-27}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The international wildlife encyclopedia |last1=Burton |first1=Robert |last2=Burton |first2=Maurice |year=1970 |publisher=Marshall Cavendish |isbn=0-7614-7266-5 |pages=2358–2359 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_YicMQmIA7wC&pg=PA2359&lpg=PA2359&dq=eurasian+pygmy+shrew+hour&source=bl&ots=URM2T1ow7c&sig=gClnGVsnoq0HStY8yGLpyipARLs&hl=en&ei=ybASTYejIInCnAe8iKHUCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CDYQ6AEwBDgK#v=onepage&q&f=false |accessdate=22 December 2010}}</ref>

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.<ref name= "uk safari"/>

In April 2008, the [[greater white-toothed shrew]] was discovered in Ireland.<ref name=goodorill>{{cite web | url = http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080428071113.htm | title = For Good Or Ill, Ireland Gains Another Mammal Species | publisher = Science Daily | author =  | date = 2008-04-28 | accessdate = 2008-05-07}}</ref> While the introduction of the species will possibly sustain threatened birds of prey, such as the [[barn owl]], the [[Indigenous (ecology)|nonnative]] mammal could threaten some of the smaller native species, such as the Eurasian pygmy shrew.<ref name=goodorill />

[[File:Sorex minutus and Sorex araneus size comparison - en.jpg|thumb|left|250px|[[Common shrew|Common]] and Eurasian pygmy shrews (genus ''[[Sorex]]''), size comparison]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commonscat|position=left|Sorex minutus}}

{{Soricomorpha|S2.}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shrew, Eurasian pygmy}}
[[Category:Sorex|Eurasian pygmy shrew]]
[[Category:Mammals of Asia]]
[[Category:Mammals of Europe]]
[[Category:Mammals of Turkey]]
[[Category:Mammals of Russia]]
[[Category:Mammals of Kazakhstan]]
[[Category:Animals described in 1766|Eurasian pygmy shrew]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus|Eurasian pygmy shrew]]