Pacific shrew
Sorex pacificus Coues, 1877
The Pacific shrew (Sorex pacificus) is a species in the family Soricidae, order Eulipotyphla. Recorded adults weigh 5.99 g to 6.71 g and live up to 1.5 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
Quick facts about the Pacific shrew
- Weight
- 5.99 g – 6.71 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
- 4.75src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 13.7 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 Pacific shrew live?
Not recorded
What is the Pacific shrew?
The Pacific shrew (Sorex pacificus) is a species of mammal in the family Soricidae. It is endemic to western Oregon in the United States. The Pacific shrew is native to western Oregon, more specifically from the Siltcoos lake to the coast going from the border line of Douglas and Lane counties continuing south to the northern parts of California. The first documented Pacific shrew to be caught was found at the mouth of the Umpqua River in 1858. They are normally found in damp areas along creeks in forests and sometimes near collapsed trees. Their refuge is of the utmost importance and they are seldom found far from it. This includes collapsed trees or dense vegetation. They use the flora to build a nest, gathering small plants such as grass, moss, lichen, or leaves into a pile and pushing themselves into the middle.
From the Wikipedia article “Pacific shrew” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pacific_shrew&oldid=1324455726), 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 Pacific shrew endangered?
The Pacific 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 Pacific shrew classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderEulipotyphla
- familySoricidae
- genusSorex
- SpeciesSorex pacificus Coues, 1877
Synonyms Sorex pacificus
Relatives of the Pacific 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
ComparePacific shrew vs Eurasian pygmy shrewPacific shrew vs Common shrewPacific shrew vs Laxmann's shrewPacific shrew vs Eurasian least shrew
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the Pacific shrew?
An adult Pacific shrew weighs 5.99 g – 6.71 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the Pacific shrew endangered?
The Pacific shrew is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
How long does the Pacific shrew live?
The Pacific shrew has a recorded lifespan of 1.5 years.
How long is the Pacific shrew pregnant?
The recorded gestation period is 20.3 days.
What kind of animal is the Pacific shrew?
The Pacific shrew (Sorex pacificus) 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). Pacific shrew (Sorex pacificus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/pacific-shrew
“Pacific shrew (Sorex pacificus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/pacific-shrew.
@misc{pacific_shrew_2026,
title = {Pacific shrew (Sorex pacificus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/pacific-shrew},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}