Taita shrew
Suncus aequatorius (Heller, 1912)
The taita shrew (Suncus aequatorius) is a species in the family Soricidae, order Eulipotyphla. Recorded adults weigh about 8 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Endangered.
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Quick facts about the taita shrew
- Weight
- 8 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Invertivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Young per litter or clutch
- 2.99src for Young per litter or clutch
- Active
- At night (nocturnal)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Endangered (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the taita shrew live?
Not recorded
What is the taita shrew?
The Taita shrew (Suncus aequatorius) is an extant species of white-toothed shrew from two localities in the Taita Hills mountain range in the Taita-Taveta District of southwestern Kenya. Given the continuing decline in the quality of this habitat, and the limitations in its range, the IUCN recognises the shrew as an endangered species.
From the Wikipedia article “Taita shrew” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Taita_shrew&oldid=1356560385), 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 taita shrew endangered?
The taita shrew is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List: it faces a very high risk of extinction in the wild.
- 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 Endangered species.
How is the taita shrew classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderEulipotyphla
- familySoricidae
- genusSuncus
- SpeciesSuncus aequatorius (Heller, 1912)
Synonyms Pachyura lixa aequatoria
Other names and names in other languages (4)
- Taita dwarf shrewEnglish
- Taita-ZwergspitzmausGerman
- セキドウジャコウネズミJapanese
- Ryjówek równikowyPolish
Relatives of the taita shrew
Other species in the same genus Suncus.
Etruscan shrew
Suncus etruscus
Asian house shrew
Suncus murinus
Black shrew
Suncus ater
Anderson's shrew
Suncus stoliczkanus
Day's shrew
Suncus dayi
Bornean pygmy shrew
Suncus hosei
CompareTaita shrew vs Etruscan shrewTaita shrew vs Asian house shrewTaita shrew vs Black shrewTaita shrew vs Anderson's shrew
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the taita shrew?
An adult taita shrew weighs 8 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the taita shrew endangered?
The taita shrew is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, meaning it faces a very high risk of extinction in the wild.
What kind of animal is the taita shrew?
The taita shrew (Suncus aequatorius) 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). Taita shrew (Suncus aequatorius). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/taita-shrew
“Taita shrew (Suncus aequatorius).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/taita-shrew.
@misc{taita_shrew_2026,
title = {Taita shrew (Suncus aequatorius)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/taita-shrew},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}