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Sorex vagrans

Baird, 1858

Vagrant Shrew

G5Secure Found in 3 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →
G5SecureGlobal Rank
Least concernIUCN
Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.106262
Element CodeAMABA01070
Record TypeSPECIES
ClassificationSpecies
Classification StatusStandard
Name CategoryVertebrate Animal
IUCNLeast concern
Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations
KingdomAnimalia
PhylumCraniata
ClassMammalia
OrderEulipotyphla
FamilySoricidae
GenusSorex
Other Common Names
Musaraigne errante (FR) Una Musaraña (ES) vagrant shrew (EN) Wandering Shrew (EN)
Concept Reference
Wilson, D. E., and D. M. Reeder (editors). 1993. Mammal species of the world: a taxonomic and geographic reference. Second edition. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC. xviii + 1206 pp. Available online at: http://www.nmnh.si.edu/msw/.
Conservation Status
Rank MethodExpertise without calculation
Review Date2016-04-05
Change Date1996-11-01
Edition Date2005-02-28
Range Extent>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)
Number of Occurrences81 to >300
Rank Reasons
Widespread and abundant in western North America and central Mexico.
Range Extent Comments
Western North America; from southern British Columbia (Nagorsen 1996) and extreme southwestern Alberta (Smith 1988) south to coastal north-central California, the Sierra Nevada of California, central Nevada, the Wasatch Mountains of Utah, and western Wyoming; disjunct population at the southern end of the Mexican Plateau in central Mexico (Verts and Carraway 1998, Gillihan and Foresman 2004).
Ecology & Habitat

Description

Pacific coast: tine present on anteriomedial edge of I1; tail distinctly bicolored in young, indistinctly bicolored in adults; never more than 4 pairs of friction pads on the second to fourth digits of hind feet; level of pigmentation at or below level of median tine on I1; body size small to medium; U5 triangular, body of U1s not touching, P4 overlapping U5; zygomatic process of maxillary pointed (Carraway 1990).

Diagnostic Characteristics

See Carraway (1995) for a key to western North American soricids based primarily on dentaries.

Habitat

Found in a wide variety of habitats: forest, meadow, and riparian, but usually mesic. Also found in saltmarsh habitat (Junge and Hoffman 1981). Known to nest in decayed logs. The nests are approximately 4" in diameter and are made of dry grass.

Ecology

In southern British Columbia, mean home range size was estimated at 1039 sq m for nonbreeding and 3258 sq m for breeding individuals. In an old field community in western Washington, annual crude density was estimated at 36.6 shrews/ha (van Zyll de Jong 1983).

Reproduction

Breeding may occur from March-September, but most activity occurs in spring between March and May. Average litter size is 5.2, but may range from 2-9. Gestation lasts approximately 20 days (van Zyll de Jong 1983).
Terrestrial Habitats
Forest - HardwoodForest - ConiferForest - MixedWoodland - HardwoodWoodland - ConiferWoodland - MixedShrubland/chaparralGrassland/herbaceousOld field
Palustrine Habitats
HERBACEOUS WETLANDFORESTED WETLANDBog/fenRiparian
Other Nations (2)
CanadaN5
ProvinceRankNative
AlbertaS1Yes
British ColumbiaS5Yes
United StatesN5
ProvinceRankNative
Navajo NationS3Yes
WyomingS5Yes
MontanaS5Yes
WashingtonS5Yes
OregonS4Yes
UtahS3Yes
CaliforniaSNRYes
NevadaS4Yes
IdahoS5Yes
Roadless Areas (3)
California (1)
AreaForestAcres
Horse Mdw.Inyo National Forest5,687
Oregon (2)
AreaForestAcres
North PaulinaDeschutes National Forest19,670
South PaulinaDeschutes National Forest9,074
References (23)
  1. American Society of Mammalogists (ASM). 2025. Mammal Diversity Database (Version 1.13) [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10595931. Online. Available: https://www.mammaldiversity.org/
  2. Banfield, A. W. F. 1974. The mammals of Canada. University of Toronto Press, Toronto, Canada. 438 pp.
  3. Bradley, R.D., L.K. Ammerman, R.J. Baker, L.C. Bradley, J.A. Cook. R.C. Dowler, C. Jones, D.J. Schmidly, F.B. Stangl Jr., R.A. Van den Bussche and B. Würsig. 2014. Revised checklist of North American mammals north of Mexico, 2014. Museum of Texas Tech University Occasional Papers 327:1-28. Available at: http://www.nsrl.ttu.edu/publications/opapers/ops/OP327.pdf
  4. Buckner, C. H. 1969. Some aspects of the population ecology of the common shrew, <i>Sorex araneus</i>, near Oxford, England. Journal of Mammalogy 50:326-332.
  5. Carraway, L. N. 1990. A morphologic and morphometric analysis of the "Sorex vagrans species complex" in the Pacific coast region. Texas Tech Univ. Mus. Spec. Publ. (32):1-76.
  6. Carraway, L. N. 1995. A key to Recent Soricidae of the western United States and Canada based primarily on dentaries. Occasional Papers of the Natural History Museum, University of Kansas (175):1-49.
  7. Churchfield, S. 1992. The Natural History of Shrews. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York. 192 pp.
  8. George, S. B. 1988. Systematics, historical biogeography, and evolution of the genus <i>Sorex</i>. J. Mammalogy 69:443-461.
  9. Gillihan, S. W. and K. R. Foresman. 2004. Sorex vagrans. Mammalian Species 744:1-5.
  10. Gillihan, S. W., and K. R. Foresman. 2004. Sorex vagrans. Mammalian Species 744:1-5.
  11. Hawes, M. L. 1977. Home range, territoriality and ecological separation in sympatric shrews, <i>Sorex vagrans</i> and <i>Sorex obscurus</i>. Journal of Mammalogy. 58:354-367.
  12. Hennings, D. and R.S. Hoffmann. 1977. A review of the tax- onomy of the <i>Sorex vagrans</i> species complex from western North America. Occas. Pap. Mus. of Nat. Hist. of the Univ. of Kansas, 68:1-35.
  13. Ingles, L. G. 1961. Home range and habitats of the wandering shrew. Journal of Mammalogy 42:455-462.
  14. Jackson, H.H. 1928. A taxonomic review of the North Americanlong tailed shrews (genera Sorex and Microsorex). N. Amer. Fauna. 51:1-238.
  15. Jackson, H. H. 1961. Mammals of Wisconsin. University of Wisconsin Press, Madison. 504 pp.
  16. Jones, J. K., Jr., R. S. Hoffman, D. W. Rice, C. Jones, R. J. Baker, and M. D. Engstrom. 1992a. Revised checklist of North American mammals north of Mexico, 1991. Occasional Papers, The Museum, Texas Tech University, 146:1-23.
  17. Junge, J. A., and R. S. Hoffmann. 1981. An annotated key to the long-tailed shrews (genus <i>Sorex</i>) of the United States and Canada, with notes on the Middle American <i>Sorex</i>. Occas. Pap. Univ. Kansas Mus. Nat. Hist. 94:1-48.
  18. Nagorsen, D. W. 1996. Opossums, shrews and moles of British Columbia. The mammals of British Columbia. Vol. 2. Royal British Columbia Museum Handbook. University of British Columbia Press, Vancouver. 169 pp.
  19. Smith, H. C. 1988. The wandering shrew, SOREX VAGRANS, in Alberta. Canadian Field-Nat. 102:254-156.
  20. van Zyll de Jong, C.G. 1983. Handbook of Canadian mammals. 1. Marsupials and insectivores. National Museum of Natural Sciences, National Museums of Canada, Ottawa, Canada. 210 pp.
  21. Verts, B. J., and L. N. Carraway. 1998. Land mammals of Oregon. University of California Press, Berkeley. xvi + 668 pp.
  22. Wilson, D. E., and D. M. Reeder (editors). 1993. Mammal species of the world: a taxonomic and geographic reference. Second edition. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC. xviii + 1206 pp. Available online at: http://www.nmnh.si.edu/msw/.
  23. Wilson, D. E., and S. Ruff. 1999. The Smithsonian book of North American mammals. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C. 750 pp.