THE SHREW
■ Type: Mammal
■ Diet: Omnivore
■ Average life span in the wild: 12 to 13 months
■ Size: 5.9 in (15 cm)
■ Weight: 0.2 lbs (100 g)
■ Size relative to a hand:
■ Diet: Omnivore
■ Average life span in the wild: 12 to 13 months
■ Size: 5.9 in (15 cm)
■ Weight: 0.2 lbs (100 g)
■ Size relative to a hand:
In general, shrews are terrestrial creatures that forage for seeds, insects, nuts, worms and a variety of other foods in leaf litter and dense vegetation, but some specialise in climbing trees, living underground, living under snow or even hunting in water. They have small eyes, and generally poor vision, but have excellent senses of hearing and smell. They are very active animals, with voracious appetites and unusually high metabolic rates. Shrews must eat 80-90 % of their own body weight in food daily.
They do not hibernate, but are capable of entering torpor. In winter, many species undergo morphological changes that drastically reduce the animal's body weight. Shrews can lose between 30% and 50% of their body weight, shrinking the size of bones, skull and internal organs.
Whereas rodents have gnawing incisors that grow throughout life, the teeth of shrews wear down throughout life, a problem made more extreme by the fact that they lose their milk teeth before birth, and therefore have only one set of teeth throughout their lifetime. Apart from the first pair of incisors, which are long and sharp, and the chewing molars at the back of the mouth, the teeth of shrews are small and peg-like, and may be reduced in number.
They do not hibernate, but are capable of entering torpor. In winter, many species undergo morphological changes that drastically reduce the animal's body weight. Shrews can lose between 30% and 50% of their body weight, shrinking the size of bones, skull and internal organs.
Whereas rodents have gnawing incisors that grow throughout life, the teeth of shrews wear down throughout life, a problem made more extreme by the fact that they lose their milk teeth before birth, and therefore have only one set of teeth throughout their lifetime. Apart from the first pair of incisors, which are long and sharp, and the chewing molars at the back of the mouth, the teeth of shrews are small and peg-like, and may be reduced in number.
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All info I took out of here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shrew
All pictures I took out of Google: http://www.google.es/imghp?hl=es&tab=wi
All pictures I took out of Google: http://www.google.es/imghp?hl=es&tab=wi