Laxmann's shrew (''Sorex caecutiens''), or the masked shrew, is a species of

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 ...

. Its range extends from northern Scandinavia and the

Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages * Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originati ...

to the

Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it h ...

, including

Hokkaidō is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The la ...

Sakhalin Sakhalin ( rus, Сахали́н, r=Sakhalín, p=səxɐˈlʲin; ja, 樺太 ''Karafuto''; zh, c=, p=Kùyèdǎo, s=库页岛, t=庫頁島; Manchu: ᠰᠠᡥᠠᠯᡳᠶᠠᠨ, ''Sahaliyan''; Orok: Бугата на̄, ''Bugata nā''; Nivkh: ...

, and the

Korean Peninsula Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

. It favours mountain

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

s but is sometimes found in tundra and moorland, and also in lowland areas as well. It avoids cultivated land.

Taxonomy

This shrew was first described in 1788 by the Finnish-Swedish explorer and naturalist

Erik Laxmann Erik Gustavovich Laxmann (russian: Эрик (Кирилл) Густавович Лаксман) (July 27, 1737 – January 6, 1796) was a Finnish-Swedish clergyman, explorer and natural scientist born in Nyslott in Finland, then part of Sweden. ...

, who called it ''Sorex caecutiens'', and it is commonly known as Laxmann's shrew. The type locality is to the southwest of

Lake Baikal Lake Baikal (, russian: Oзеро Байкал, Ozero Baykal ); mn, Байгал нуур, Baigal nuur) is a rift lake in Russia. It is situated in southern Siberia, between the federal subjects of Irkutsk Oblast to the northwest and the Repu ...

in Russia. Several subspecies are recognised, including ''S. c. hallamontanus'' from Jeju Island in South Korea.

Description

An adult Laxmann's shrew has a weight of and a head-and-body length of , with a tail of . The snout is long and narrow and lacks a pale coloured streak at the side. The teeth have red tips, and the dentition distinguishes this shrew from other similar species. The fur is shiny, the pelage is bicoloured, and the feet are white. The tail is always more than half the head-and-body length, and is usually more than 65%; the tail has no long hairs except for a tuft at the tip.

Distribution and habitat

Laxmann's shrew is found in the

taiga Taiga (; rus, тайга́, p=tɐjˈɡa; relates to Mongolic and Turkic languages), generally referred to in North America as a boreal forest or snow forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines, spruce ...

zone of northern Europe and Asia. Its range extends from Norway and Sweden through northern

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

to northwestern and northeastern China, Korea, Japan, and

Sakhalin Island Sakhalin ( rus, Сахали́н, r=Sakhalín, p=səxɐˈlʲin; ja, 樺太 ''Karafuto''; zh, c=, p=Kùyèdǎo, s=库页岛, t=庫頁島; Manchu: ᠰᠠᡥᠠᠯᡳᠶᠠᠨ, ''Sahaliyan''; Orok: Бугата на̄, ''Bugata nā''; Nivkh: ...

. It is widely distributed in both mountain and lowland forests, and also in the adjoining

tundra In physical geography, tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. The term ''tundra'' comes through Russian (') from the Kildin Sámi word (') meaning "uplands", "treeless moun ...

. It favours damp woodland with plenty of

moss Mosses are small, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic division Bryophyta (, ) '' sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryophytes, which comprise liverworts, mosses, and hor ...

, bushy scrub, and small trees, and the banks of streams and borders of swamps on moorland. It is not found on cultivated land.

Ecology

This species is mainly diurnal and feeds on small invertebrates such as insects (especially beetles), spiders, millipedes, and earthworms, as well as conifer seeds when available. Breeding takes place in the summer when up to four litters of 2 to 11 (usually 7 or 8) young are born in an underground nest. Longevity is probably about one year.

Status

''S. caecutiens'' has an extremely wide distribution and is described as being abundant in many parts of its range. Other than the felling of timber, no particular threats have been identified, the total population size seems to be steady and the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

has rated its conservation status as being of "

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

References