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 Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Eulipotyphla
Family: Soricidae
Tribe: Blarinini
Genus: Blarina
Gray, 1838
Type species
Corsira (Blarina) talpoides [1]
Species

Description

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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

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Species are:[1]

Ecoepidemiology

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Short-tailed shrews are one of the animal reservoirs of the agents of Lyme disease and human babesiosis.[5]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M., eds. (2005). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 269–270. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
  2. ^ Kita M, Okumura Y, Ohdachi SD, Oba Y, Yoshikuni M, Nakamura Y, Kido H, Uemura D (February 2005). "Purification and characterisation of blarinasin, a new tissue kallikrein-like protease from the short-tailed shrew Blarina brevicauda: comparative studies with blarina toxin". Biological Chemistry. 386 (2): 177–82. doi:10.1515/BC.2005.022. hdl:2115/7398. PMID 15843162. S2CID 2884850.
  3. ^ "Blarina shermani". NatureServe Explorer. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
  4. ^ "Blarina shermani Hamilton, 1955". www.mammaldiversity.org. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
  5. ^ 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)