CreatureData

Ornate shrew

Sorex ornatus Merriam, 1895

LCLeast Concernmammals

The ornate shrew (Sorex ornatus) is a species in the family Soricidae, order Eulipotyphla. Recorded adults weigh 4.99 g to 5.57 g and live up to 1.46 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Ornate shrew (Sorex ornatus)
Photo: Pacific Southwest Region U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the ornate shrew

Weight
4.99 g – 5.57 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
1.46 yearssrc for Lifespan
Diet
Invertivoresrc for Diet
Longest recorded lifespan
1.5 years
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
Not recorded
Gestation
21.3 dayssrc for Gestation
Young per litter or clutch
5src for Young per litter or clutch
Age at maturity
12 monthssrc for Age at maturity
Litters or clutches a year
1src 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 ornate shrew live?

Not recorded

What is the ornate shrew?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The ornate shrew (Sorex ornatus) is a species of mammal in the family Soricidae (shrews). It is endemic to western North America, ranging from Northern California in the United States to the Baja California peninsula in Mexico. Eight subspecies are known, including the extinct tule shrew (S. o. juncensis), known only from four specimens collected in 1905, and the Suisun ornate shrew (S. o. sinuosus), a species of conservation concern in California. Through skull morphology research and genetic testing on Ornate shrew populations, it has been shown that there are three main genetic subdivisions: The Southern, Central and Northern. These three genetic subdivisions of Ornate shrew arose from populations of Ornate shrews getting geographically isolated from other populations.

From the Wikipedia article “Ornate shrew” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ornate_shrew&oldid=1381764672), 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 ornate shrew endangered?

The ornate shrew is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. 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 ornate shrew classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classMammalia
  4. orderEulipotyphla
  5. familySoricidae
  6. genusSorex
  7. SpeciesSorex ornatus Merriam, 1895
Other names and names in other languages (8)
  • Suisun shrewEnglish
  • SchönspitzmausGerman
  • Musaraña adornadaSpanish
  • kalifornianpäästäinenFinnish
  • ハレギトガリネズミJapanese
  • Californische SpitsmuisDutch
  • ryjówka zdobnaPolish
  • Украшенная бурозубкаRussian

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the ornate shrew

Other species in the same genus Sorex.

CompareOrnate shrew vs Eurasian pygmy shrewOrnate shrew vs Common shrewOrnate shrew vs Laxmann's shrewOrnate shrew vs Eurasian least shrew

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the ornate shrew?

An adult ornate shrew weighs 4.99 g – 5.57 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the ornate shrew endangered?

The ornate shrew is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.

How long does the ornate shrew live?

The ornate shrew has a recorded lifespan of 1.46 years.

How long is the ornate shrew pregnant?

The recorded gestation period is 21.3 days.

What kind of animal is the ornate shrew?

The ornate shrew (Sorex ornatus) 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.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Ornate shrew (Sorex ornatus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/ornate-shrew

MLA

“Ornate shrew (Sorex ornatus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/ornate-shrew.

BibTeX
@misc{ornate_shrew_2026,
  title = {Ornate shrew (Sorex ornatus)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/ornate-shrew},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}