THE SHREWS
Family SORICIDJE
A l t h o u g h the popular name of Shrew-mouse is often applied to members of
this family of the Insectivora, the Shrews have, save to the rustic mind, only
a superficial resemblance to mice. The close velvety pelage, the elongated snout,
and the teeth are characteristic of the family. The dentition of the Shrews differs
from that of the hedgehogs and moles in many particulars; the first pair of
incisors are remarkably long and have a more or less marked cusp posterior to the
main portion of these massive teeth; the lower incisors project forwards in a horizontal
position, are generally curved upwards at the tip and serrated on their
upper border. In common with some of the marsupials, from which it has been
suggested the Insectivores are descended, the Shrews have four pairs of incisors
in the upper jaw, though the fourth pair is considered by some authorities to be
a modified canine and the true canine a premolar. The second upper premolar
is large, larger indeed than the molars.
In the extremely long narrow skulls of the Shrews the zygomatic arches are
incomplete, a character which at once distinguishes them from the hedgehogs.
In their habits, with a few notable exceptions, the Shrews are terrestrial, and
though the family as a whole is said to be nocturnal, the statement, so far as our
British species are concerned, is too sweeping.
Shrews are found throughout Europe, temperate and tropical Asia, Africa, and
North America, and are represented in many islands lying adjacent to these
continents.
Genus Sorex
The Red-toothed Shrews are, with two exceptions, found in Europe, northern
Asia, Africa north of the Sahara, and North America. In our Islands the genus
is represented by two species, S. araneus and S. mi nut us. In Sorex the teeth