The genus ''Blarina'' is a group of relatively large

shrew Shrews (family Soricidae) are small mole-like mammals classified in the order Eulipotyphla. True shrews are not to be confused with treeshrews, otter shrews, elephant shrews, West Indies shrews, or marsupial shrews, which belong to different fa ...

s with relatively short tails found in North America. They have 32 teeth and are in the

red-toothed shrew The red-toothed shrews of the subfamily Soricinae are one of three living subfamilies of shrews, along with Crocidurinae (white-toothed shrews) and Myosoricinae (African white-toothed shrews). In addition, the family contains the extinct subfamil ...

subfamily. They generally have dark fur and thick feet. The saliva of these

animals Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals consume organic material, breathe oxygen, are able to move, can reproduce sexually, and go through an ontogenetic stage in ...

is toxic and is used to subdue prey. Species are: *

Northern short-tailed shrew 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 v ...

''B. brevicauda'' *

Southern short-tailed shrew The southern short-tailed shrew (''Blarina carolinensis'') is a gray, short-tailed shrew that inhabits the eastern United States. Description The southern short-tailed shrew is the smallest shrew in its genus, measuring in total length, and we ...

''B. carolinensis'' *

Elliot's short-tailed shrew Elliot's short-tailed shrew (''Blarina hylophaga'') is a small, slate grey, short-tailed species of shrew. Its common name comes from Daniel Giraud Elliot, who first described the species in 1899. Description Elliot's short-tailed shrew is simil ...

''B. hylophaga'' *

Everglades short-tailed shrew The Everglades short-tailed shrew (''Blarina peninsulae'') is a species of shrew in the genus ''Blarina''. It is endemic to Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the wes ...

''B. peninsulae''

Ecoepidemiology

Short-tailed shrews are one of the animal reservoirs of the agents of

Lyme disease Lyme disease, also known as Lyme borreliosis, is a vector-borne disease caused by the ''Borrelia'' bacterium, which is spread by ticks in the genus ''Ixodes''. The most common sign of infection is an expanding red rash, known as erythema migran ...

and human

babesiosis Babesiosis or piroplasmosis is a malaria-like parasitic disease caused by infection with a eukaryotic parasite in the order Piroplasmida, typically a ''Babesia'' or ''Theileria'', in the phylum Apicomplexa. Human babesiosis transmission via ti ...

.Telford III, S. R., Mather, T. N., Adler, G. H., & Spielman, A. (1990). ''Short-tailed shrews as reservoirs of the agents of Lyme disease and human babesiosis''. The Journal of parasitology, 681-683
abstract

References

Mammal genera Animals that use echolocation Taxa named by John Edward Gray {{redtoothed-shrew-stub