Blarina

American short-tailed shrews; Temporal range: Late Pliocene to Recent
	Southern short-tailed shrew (Blarina carolinensis)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Eulipotyphla
Family:	Soricidae
Tribe:	Blarinini
Genus:	; Gray, 1838
Type species
	Corsira (Blarina) talpoides ;
Species
	B. brevicauda; B. carolinensis; B. hylophaga; B. peninsulae; B. shermani;

The genus Blarina, commonly called short-tailed shrews, is a genus of relatively large shrews with relatively short tails found in North America.

Description

They have 32 teeth and are in the red-toothed shrew subfamily. They generally have dark fur and thick feet. The saliva of these animals is toxic and is used to subdue prey.^[2]

Species

Species are:^[1]

Northern short-tailed shrew B. brevicauda
Southern short-tailed shrew B. carolinensis
Elliot's short-tailed shrew B. hylophaga
Everglades short-tailed shrew B. peninsulae
Sherman's short-tailed shrew B. shermani; possibly extinct^[3]^[4]

Ecoepidemiology

Short-tailed shrews are one of the animal reservoirs of the agents of Lyme disease and human babesiosis.^[5]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M., eds. (2005). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 269–270. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
^ Kita M, Okumura Y, Ohdachi SD, Oba Y, Yoshikuni M, Nakamura Y, Kido H, Uemura D (February 2005). "Purification and characterisation of blarinasin, a new tissue kallikrein-like protease from the short-tailed shrew Blarina brevicauda: comparative studies with blarina toxin". Biological Chemistry. 386 (2): 177–82. doi:10.1515/BC.2005.022. hdl:2115/7398. PMID 15843162. S2CID 2884850.
^ "Blarina shermani". NatureServe Explorer. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
^ "Blarina shermani Hamilton, 1955". www.mammaldiversity.org. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
^ Telford III, S. R., Mather, T. N., Adler, G. H., & Spielman, A. (1990). Short-tailed shrews as reservoirs of the agents of Lyme disease and human babesiosis. The Journal of parasitology, 681-683 (abstract)

[msw3-1] Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M., eds. (2005). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 269–270. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.

[2] Kita M, Okumura Y, Ohdachi SD, Oba Y, Yoshikuni M, Nakamura Y, Kido H, Uemura D (February 2005). "Purification and characterisation of blarinasin, a new tissue kallikrein-like protease from the short-tailed shrew Blarina brevicauda: comparative studies with blarina toxin". Biological Chemistry. 386 (2): 177–82. doi:10.1515/BC.2005.022. hdl:2115/7398. PMID 15843162. S2CID 2884850.

[3] "Blarina shermani". NatureServe Explorer. Retrieved 2023-03-30.

[4] "Blarina shermani Hamilton, 1955". www.mammaldiversity.org. Retrieved 2023-03-30.

[5] Telford III, S. R., Mather, T. N., Adler, G. H., & Spielman, A. (1990). Short-tailed shrews as reservoirs of the agents of Lyme disease and human babesiosis. The Journal of parasitology, 681-683 (abstract)

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