Blarina
{{Short description|Genus of mammals}}
{{about|the shrew|the fictional species from Star Wars|List of Star Wars species (A–E)#Blarina}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| name = American short-tailed shrews{{MSW3 |id=13700341| pages = 269–270}}
| fossil_range = Late Pliocene to Recent
| image = southern short-tailed shrew.jpg
| image_caption = Southern short-tailed shrew (Blarina carolinensis)
| taxon = Blarina
| authority = Gray, 1838
| type_species = Corsira (Blarina) talpoides
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision = *B. brevicauda
}}
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.{{cite journal | vauthors = Kita M, Okumura Y, Ohdachi SD, Oba Y, Yoshikuni M, Nakamura Y, Kido H, Uemura D | title = Purification and characterisation of blarinasin, a new tissue kallikrein-like protease from the short-tailed shrew Blarina brevicauda: comparative studies with blarina toxin | journal =Biological Chemistry | volume = 386 | issue = 2 | pages = 177–82 |date=February 2005 | doi = 10.1515/BC.2005.022 | pmid = 15843162| hdl = 2115/7398 | s2cid = 2884850 | hdl-access = free }}
Species
- 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{{Cite web |title=Blarina shermani |url=https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.100006/Blarina_shermani |access-date=2023-03-30 |website=NatureServe Explorer}}{{Cite web |title=Blarina shermani Hamilton, 1955 |url=https://www.mammaldiversity.org/explore.html#genus=Blarina&species=shermani&id=1004124 |access-date=2023-03-30 |website=www.mammaldiversity.org}}
Ecoepidemiology
Short-tailed shrews are one of the animal reservoirs of the agents of Lyme disease and human babesiosis.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 ([https://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/3282982?uid=3738016&uid=2&uid=4&sid=21103094817717 abstract])
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Eulipotyphla|S1.}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q468813}}
Category:Animals that use echolocation
Category:Taxa named by John Edward Gray
{{redtoothed-shrew-stub}}