Montane shrew
Sorex monticolus Merriam, 1890
The montane shrew (Sorex monticolus) is a species in the family Soricidae, order Eulipotyphla. Recorded adults weigh 5.25 g to 5.99 g and live up to 1.5 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
Quick facts about the montane shrew
- Weight
- 5.25 g – 5.99 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 1.5 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Invertivoresrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 2.08 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Gestation
- 20.3 dayssrc for Gestation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 5.71src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 12.9 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 2src 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 montane shrew live?
Not recorded
What is the montane shrew?
The montane shrew (Sorex monticolus) is a species of mammal in the family Soricidae commonly known as the dusky shrew. Monticolus is derived from the Latin root word mons meaning mountain. It is found in Alaska, western Canada, the western United States in Washington, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Oregon, Nevada, and California, as well as in Mexico.
From the Wikipedia article “Montane shrew” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Montane_shrew&oldid=1381764792), 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 montane shrew endangered?
The montane 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 montane shrew classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderEulipotyphla
- familySoricidae
- genusSorex
- SpeciesSorex monticolus Merriam, 1890
Other names and names in other languages (11)
- Dusky shrewEnglish
- Dusky shrewEnglish
- New Mexico shrewEnglish
- Southern montane shrewEnglish
- Dunkle RotzahnspitzmausGerman
- Musaraña oscuraSpanish
- ruskopäästäinenFinnish
- musaraigne sombreFrench
- クロトガリネズミJapanese
- Amerikaanse BergspitsmuisDutch
- ryjówka ciemnaPolish
Relatives of the montane 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
CompareMontane shrew vs Eurasian pygmy shrewMontane shrew vs Common shrewMontane shrew vs Laxmann's shrewMontane shrew vs Eurasian least shrew
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the montane shrew?
An adult montane shrew weighs 5.25 g – 5.99 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the montane shrew endangered?
The montane shrew is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
How long does the montane shrew live?
The montane shrew has a recorded lifespan of 1.5 years.
How long is the montane shrew pregnant?
The recorded gestation period is 20.3 days.
What kind of animal is the montane shrew?
The montane shrew (Sorex monticolus) 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). Montane shrew (Sorex monticolus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/montane-shrew
“Montane shrew (Sorex monticolus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/montane-shrew.
@misc{montane_shrew_2026,
title = {Montane shrew (Sorex monticolus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/montane-shrew},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}