Texas Tech University

ELLIOT'S SHORT-TAILED SHREW
Blarina hylophaga Elliot 1899

Order Soricomorpha : Family Soricidae

DESCRIPTION. Elliot's short-tailed shrew is nearly identical in appearance to the southern short-tailed shrew, B. carolinensis; both are tiny, slate-gray to brownish colored shrews with short tails and no external ears. Blarina hylophaga
differs in having slightly larger cranial measurements and a noticeably larger fourth premolar. Also, B. hylophaga tends to be grayish in coloration, whereas B. carolinensis is often tinged with brown. Dental formula: I 4/2, C 1/0, Pm 2/1, M 3/3 × 2 = 32. Averages for external measurements: total length, 88 mm; tail, 17 mm; hind foot, 11 mm. Weight, 18–28 g.

Blarina hylophaga

DISTRIBUTION. Known in Texas only from Montague, Bastrop, and Aransas counties. Pleistocene fossils of this shrew are known from cave sites throughout the Hill Country.

Distribution of Blarina hylophaga

SUBSPECIES. The previous edition of this book listed two subspecies in Texas, B. h. hylophaga from Montague and Bastrop counties and B. h. plumbea from Aransas County. However, a recently published taxonomic revision has shown those populations from Aransas and Bastrop counties should be referred to B. h. plumbea. The population from Montague County is still referable to B. h. hylophaga.

HABITS. In Aransas County these shrews inhabit mottes of live oak trees on sandy soils, where they excavate their diminutive burrows. In Bastrop County they have been collected in pitfall traps placed in grassy vegetation with an overstory of loblolly pine. Specimens from Montague County were obtained in a pitfall trap set in grassy vegetation several meters from some post oak trees. As with B. carolinensis, they may burrow extensively under leaf litter and logs and deeply into the soil, but ground cover is not required. At Aransas Wildlife Refuge their burrows may be in areas with little or no ground cover, but they are always where soft, damp soils afford easy burrowing.

As with the southern short-tailed shrew, this shrew is slightly venomous and may occasionally prey on animals larger than itself, such as mice. More frequently consumed food items are insects, arthropods, and earthworms.

Females produce one to two litters of six to seven young (on average) each year. Breeding season and reproductive habits are probably similar to B. carolinensis. Young are weaned and leave the nest at 1 month of age. Blarina hylophaga has an average life span of only 8 months.

POPULATION STATUS. Common in local areas but rare across the state—known only from three counties in Texas.

CONSERVATION STATUS. Elliot's short-tailed shrew is listed by the IUCN as least concern due to its widespread distribution in the northern portion of the United States, and it does not appear on the federal or state lists of concerned species. However, in Texas, the only place where this shrew has been taken in any numbers is in the oak mottes of the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in Aransas County along the lower Texas coast. A number of land management practices have been instituted in that habitat, including burning, land clearing, and grazing. The potential effects of such procedures on the shrew are unknown. Given its distribution and population status, this is a species that should be carefully monitored in the future.

REMARKS. The best way to distinguish this species from its cryptic relative, B. carolinensis, is to examine the karyotype (number and morphology of chromosomes). Blarina hylophaga has a diploid number of 52 and a fundamental number of 60, 61, or 62; B. carolinensis has a diploid number of 37–46 and a fundamental number of 44.

Previous PageTable of ContentsNext Page

 

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