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CRAWFORD'S DESERT SHREW
Notiosorex crawfordi (Coues 1877)

Order Soricomorpha : Family Soricidae

DESCRIPTION. A small shrew with conspicuous ears and long tail (more than twice as long as hind foot); upperparts lead gray; underparts paler. Dental formula: I 3/2, C 1/0, Pm 1/1, M 3/3 × 2 = 28. Averages for external measurements: total length, 81 mm; tail, 27 mm; hind foot, 10 mm. Weight, 2.9–6.3 g.

Notiosorex crawfordi

DISTRIBUTION. Western two-thirds of state, including portions of north-central
Texas and southern Texas.

Distribution of Notiosorex crawfordi

SUBSPECIES. Notiosorex c. crawfordi.

HABITS. Crawford's desert shrews are found in the more arid, western and southern parts of the state but do not appear to be restricted to any particular habitat. Specimens have been taken in cattail marshes, in beehives, under piles of cornstalks, among yuccas, in woodrat nests, and beneath piles of brush and refuse. In such places, they construct their tiny nests of grasses and other dried vegetation. Unlike other shrews from Texas, desert shrews do not appear to construct or make use of underground burrows.

This shrew is thought to feed largely on both larval and adult insects; captive specimens have eaten a wide variety of food, including mealworms, cutworms, crickets, cockroaches, houseflies, grasshoppers, moths, beetles, earwigs, centipedes, the carcasses of skinned small mammals and birds, and dead lizards. Conversely, captives refused live rodents, salamanders, scorpions, and earthworms. In captivity, desert shrews eat about 75% of their body weight each day and can subsist without drinking water.

Little is known about the breeding habits of this shrew. The breeding season lasts from spring into the fall months, perhaps occasionally as late as November. Litter size averages three to five young, but it is not known if more than one litter is produced each season.

The life span is not known. Predators include great horned owls and barn owls.

POPULATION STATUS. Common. Crawford's desert shrew occurs throughout much of the western portion of the state. As with most shrews, this species may be locally abundant but rarely captured. At the Chaparral Wildlife Management Area in Dimmit and La Salle counties, Crawford's desert shrews have been captured in surprisingly large numbers in drift fence arrays designed for capturing reptiles.

CONSERVATION STATUS. The IUCN status is listed as least concern, and Crawford's desert shrew does not appear on the federal or state lists of concerned species. Given the amount of literature that exists, this species appears to be more common than realized and is not threatened. However, in the late 1990s, the late Rollin Baker identified it as one of the species potentially at risk in the Chihuahuan Desert biome, mainly because of its apparent scarcity and poorly known habits. No specific threats have been identified. 

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From The Mammals of Texas, Seventh Edition by David J. Schmidly and Robert D. Bradley, copyright © 1994, 2004, 2016.  Courtesy of the University of Texas Press.

Natural Science Research Laboratory