Slender shrew
Sorex gracillimus Thomas, 1907
The slender shrew (Sorex gracillimus) is a species in the family Soricidae, order Eulipotyphla. Recorded adults weigh 4.26 g to 5.06 g and live up to 2 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
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Quick facts about the slender shrew
- Weight
- 4.26 g – 5.06 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 2 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Invertivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- forest, grasslandsrc for Habitat
- Gestation
- 23.6 dayssrc for Gestation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 5.77src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 10.8 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1.5src 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 slender shrew live?
Not recorded
What is the slender shrew?
The slender shrew (Sorex gracillimus) is a species of shrew. An adult slender shrew has a weight of 1.5–5.3 g (0.053–0.187 oz) and a body length of 4.7–6.0 cm (1.9–2.4 in), with a tail of 4–5 cm (1.6–2.0 in); this makes it one of the smaller shrews found in its range. It is distributed across northeastern North Korea, Hokkaidō, and the Russian Far East including the Kuril Islands.
From the Wikipedia article “Slender shrew” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Slender_shrew&oldid=1315327404), 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 slender shrew endangered?
The slender 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 slender shrew classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderEulipotyphla
- familySoricidae
- genusSorex
- SpeciesSorex gracillimus Thomas, 1907
Synonyms Sorex minutus gracillimus, Sorex minutus gracillimus
Other names and names in other languages (9)
- rejsek štíhlýCzech
- Schlanke SpitzmausGerman
- idänvaivaispäästäinenFinnish
- ヒメトガリネズミJapanese
- 쇠뒤쥐Korean
- ryjówka smukłaPolish
- Тонконосая бурозубкаRussian
- Brozubka Dal'NevostochnayaRussian
- 細鼩鼱Chinese
Relatives of the slender 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
CompareSlender shrew vs Eurasian pygmy shrewSlender shrew vs Common shrewSlender shrew vs Laxmann's shrewSlender shrew vs Eurasian least shrew
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the slender shrew?
An adult slender shrew weighs 4.26 g – 5.06 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the slender shrew endangered?
The slender shrew is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
How long does the slender shrew live?
The slender shrew has a recorded lifespan of 2 years.
How long is the slender shrew pregnant?
The recorded gestation period is 23.6 days.
What kind of animal is the slender shrew?
The slender shrew (Sorex gracillimus) 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 - 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).
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Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Slender shrew (Sorex gracillimus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/slender-shrew
“Slender shrew (Sorex gracillimus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/slender-shrew.
@misc{slender_shrew_2026,
title = {Slender shrew (Sorex gracillimus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/slender-shrew},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}