Arctic shrew
Sorex arcticus Kerr, 1792
The Arctic shrew (Sorex arcticus) is a species in the family Soricidae, order Eulipotyphla. Recorded adults weigh 8.15 g to 8.2 g and live up to 1.5 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
Quick facts about the Arctic shrew
- Weight
- 8.15 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 1.5 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Invertivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Gestation
- 17 dayssrc for Gestation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 6.63src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 11.4 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1.9src for Litters or clutches a year
- Active
- Day and night (cathemeral)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the Arctic shrew live?
Not recorded
What is the Arctic shrew?
The Arctic shrew (Sorex arcticus), also known as the blackback shrew or saddlebacked shrew, is a medium-sized shrew found in Canada and the northern United States. Separate species status has been proposed for the maritime shrew (Sorex maritimensis) which is found in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia and had been considered to be a subspecies of the Arctic shrew. The tundra shrew (Sorex tundrensis) was formerly considered to be a subspecies of the Arctic shrew.
From the Wikipedia article “Arctic shrew” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Arctic_shrew&oldid=1384684550), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the Arctic shrew endangered?
The Arctic shrew is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.
How is the Arctic shrew classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderEulipotyphla
- familySoricidae
- genusSorex
- SpeciesSorex arcticus Kerr, 1792
Other names and names in other languages (13)
- Black-backed shrewEnglish
- Saddle-back shrewEnglish
- rejsek severníCzech
- Arktische SpitzmausGerman
- Musaraña árcticaSpanish
- pohjanpäästäinenFinnish
- musaraigne arctiqueFrench
- musaraigne nordiqueFrench
- ホッキョクトガリネズミJapanese
- PoolspitsmuisDutch
- ryjówka arktycznaPolish
- Арктическая бурозубкаRussian
- Kutup SoreksiTurkish
Relatives of the Arctic shrew
Other species in the same genus Sorex.
Eurasian pygmy shrew
Sorex minutus
Common shrew
Sorex araneus
Laxmann's shrew
Sorex caecutiens
Eurasian least shrew
Sorex minutissimus
Alpine shrew
Sorex alpinus
Taiga shrew
Sorex isodon
CompareArctic shrew vs Eurasian pygmy shrewArctic shrew vs Common shrewArctic shrew vs Laxmann's shrewArctic shrew vs Eurasian least shrew
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the Arctic shrew?
An adult Arctic shrew weighs 8.15 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the Arctic shrew endangered?
The Arctic shrew is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
How long does the Arctic shrew live?
The Arctic shrew has a recorded lifespan of 1.5 years.
How long is the Arctic shrew pregnant?
The recorded gestation period is 17 days.
What kind of animal is the Arctic shrew?
The Arctic shrew (Sorex arcticus) belongs to the family Soricidae in the order Eulipotyphla.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Arctic shrew (Sorex arcticus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/arctic-shrew
“Arctic shrew (Sorex arcticus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/arctic-shrew.
@misc{arctic_shrew_2026,
title = {Arctic shrew (Sorex arcticus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/arctic-shrew},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}