Blarina
Genus of mammals
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The genus Blarina, commonly called short-tailed shrews, is a genus of relatively large shrews with relatively short tails found in North America.
| American short-tailed shrews[1] Temporal range: Late Pliocene to Recent | |
|---|---|
| |
| Southern short-tailed shrew (Blarina carolinensis) | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Infraclass: | Placentalia |
| Order: | Eulipotyphla |
| Family: | Soricidae |
| Tribe: | Blarinini |
| Genus: | Blarina Gray, 1838 |
| Type species | |
| Corsira (Blarina) talpoides [1] | |
| Species | |
| |
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 is toxic and is used to subdue prey.[2]
Species
Species are:[1]
- 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[3][4]
Ecoepidemiology
Short-tailed shrews are one of the animal reservoirs of the agents of Lyme disease and human babesiosis.[5]
