Soricinae

The red-toothed shrews of the subfamily Soricinae are one of three living subfamilies of shrews, along with Crocidurinae and Myosoricinae. In addition, the family contains the extinct subfamilies Limnoecinae, Crocidosoricinae, Allosoricinae and Heterosoricinae. These species are typically found in North America, northern South America, Europe and northern Asia. The enamel of the tips of their teeth is reddish due to iron pigment. The iron deposits serve to harden the enamel and are concentrated in those parts of the teeth most subject to wear. Members of the genera Chimarrogale, Nectogale, Neomys (Nectogalini) and some members of Sorex (Soricini) are known as water shrews, due to having a semi-aquatic lifestyle.

Soricinae

Uncredited · Public Domain · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Also called
red-toothed shrewPBDB
Sits inside
SoricidaePBDB
Diet
omnivorePBDB, for Soricidae
Life habit
ground dwellingPBDB, for Soricidae
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Eutheria

Time the record covers

At least 16 million years on record.

The record covers at least 16.9 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 23.04 Mya to 0 Mya.

Oligocene — about 0 of 1092 occurrencesMiocene — about 156 of 1092 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 231 of 1092 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 689 of 1092 occurrencesPleistocene24–23 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences23–22 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences22–21 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences21–20 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences20–20 Mya — about 1.0 occurrences20–19 Mya — about 1 occurrence19–18 Mya — about 2 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 2 occurrences17–16 Mya — about 3 occurrences16–16 Mya — about 4 occurrences16–15 Mya — about 3 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 3 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 3 occurrences13–13 Mya — about 5 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 12 occurrences12–11 Mya — about 14 occurrences11–10 Mya — about 13 occurrences10–9.4 Mya — about 14 occurrences9.4–8.6 Mya — about 15 occurrences8.6–7.8 Mya — about 20 occurrences7.8–7.1 Mya — about 11 occurrences7.1–6.3 Mya — about 13 occurrences6.3–5.5 Mya — about 13 occurrences5.5–4.7 Mya — about 38 occurrences4.7–3.9 Mya — about 71 occurrences3.9–3.1 Mya — about 74 occurrences3.1–2.4 Mya — about 85 occurrences2.4–1.6 Mya — about 113 occurrences1.6–785 ka Mya — about 135 occurrences785 ka–0 Mya — about 422 occurrences16.9 Mya11.7 ka23.5 Mya0 Mya

1,092 occurrences of Soricinae on record, most of them in the Pleistocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

1,092 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

63 formations

Glenns Ferry — 43.60°N, 116.80°WGlenns Ferry — 42.80°N, 114.90°WKingsdown — 37.04°N, 100.50°WKingsdown — 37.20°N, 100.30°WRexroad — 37.10°N, 100.90°WRexroad — 37.20°N, 100.30°WRexroad — 37.13°N, 100.48°WAsh Hollow — 40.50°N, 100.50°WAsh Hollow — 41.30°N, 101.89°WAsh Hollow — 41.10°N, 103.00°WCrooked Creek — 37.20°N, 100.30°WCrooked Creek — 39.00°N, 98.20°WTule — 34.50°N, 101.70°WTule — 34.50°N, 101.30°WCromer Forest Bed — 52.94°N, 1.25°ECromer Forest Bed — 51.64°N, 0.80°ELefkon — 41.13°N, 23.48°ELefkon — 41.17°N, 23.50°EReuver clay — 50.92°N, 6.82°EReuver clay — 50.90°N, 6.45°EDove Spring — 35.30°N, 118.50°WDove Spring — 35.37°N, 117.99°WSappa — 41.20°N, 96.60°WSappa — 39.80°N, 98.10°WRingold — 47.00°N, 118.50°WRingold — 46.30°N, 119.10°WJuntura — 43.60°N, 117.50°WGila Conglomerate — 32.70°N, 109.10°WGila Conglomerate — 32.69°N, 109.45°WSan Timoteo — 33.90°N, 117.00°WPalm Spring — 32.90°N, 117.10°WAlamosa — 37.37°N, 105.75°WApolakkia — 36.08°N, 27.80°EPlatanochori — 40.57°N, 23.47°EChikoi — 51.03°N, 106.65°EEdelény — 48.39°N, 20.64°EGonia — 40.37°N, 23.11°EOgallala — 39.08°N, 99.75°WLaverne — 36.80°N, 100.50°W

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The named rock units Soricinae has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 39 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 911 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Soricinae and its relatives

Pleistocene

Where Soricinae and its relatives were recorded in the Pleistocene.

Found in the same rock

2,230 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 528 sites for Soricinae, and this reads 240 of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

281 references

Each of the 1,092 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 269 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content1

Picture of Soricinae

Credit
nobody named on the record
Licence
Public Domain
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Soricinae was found in Sketchfab.

Smithsonian Open Access and MorphoSource were not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itSoricidae through timeFormations of the PleistoceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Fischer von Waldheim 1817