The genus ''Blarina'', commonly called short-tailed shrews, is a
genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
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 dif ...
s with relatively short tails found in North America.
Description
They have 32 teeth and are in the
red-toothed shrew 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, have myocytes and are able to move, can reproduce sexually, and grow from a ...
is toxic and is used to subdue prey.
Species
Species are:
*
Northern short-tailed shrew ''B. brevicauda''
*
Southern short-tailed shrew ''B. carolinensis''
*
Elliot's short-tailed shrew ''B. hylophaga''
*
Everglades short-tailed shrew ''B. peninsulae''
*
Sherman's short-tailed shrew ''B. shermani;'' possibly
extinct
Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...
Ecoepidemiology
Short-tailed shrews are one of the animal reservoirs of the agents of
Lyme disease and human
babesiosis.
[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
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