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AnAge entry for Suncus etruscus

Classification (HAGRID: 03557)
TaxonomyKingdom: Animalia
    Phylum: Chordata
        Class: Mammalia (Taxon entry)
            Order: Soricomorpha
                Family: Soricidae
                    Genus: Suncus
SpeciesSuncus etruscus
Common nameWhite-toothed pygmy shrew

Lifespan, ageing, and relevant traits

Maximum longevity3.2 years (captivity)
Sourceref. 671
Sample sizesmall
Data qualityquestionable
Observations

These are one of the smallest living mammals, if not the smallest. Longevity has not been studied in detail in captivity due to difficulties in keeping these animals in captivity. One captive specimen lived 3.2 years, though [0671]. Maximum longevity may still be underestimated.

Life history traits (averages)

Female sexual maturity365 days
Male sexual maturity365 days
Gestation27 days
Weaning20 days
Litter size4 (viviparous)
Litters per year
Inter-litter interval
Weight at birth0.19 g
Weight at weaning2.065 g
Adult weight2.1 g
Postnatal growth rate0.174 days-1 (from Gompertz function)
Maximum longevity residual58 %

Metabolism

Typical body temperature309ºK or 36.0ºC or 96.8ºF
Basal metabolic rate0.0630 W
Body mass2.4 g
Metabolic rate per body mass0.026250 W/g

References
[0671] Richard Weigl (2005), Longevity of Mammals in Captivity; from the Living Collections of the World
[0036] Savage et al. (2004), The predominance of quarter-power scaling in biology
[0420] White and Seymour (2003), Mammalian basal metabolic rate is proportional to body mass2/3, PubMed
[0610] Ernest (2003), Life history characteristics of placental non-volant mammals
[0434] Ronald Nowak (1999), Walker's Mammals of the World
[0678] Symonds (1999), Life histories of the Insectivora: the role of phylogeny, metabolism, and sex differences
[0455] Virginia Hayssen et al. (1993), Asdell's Patterns of Mammalian Reproduction: A Compendium of Species-Specific Data
[0542] Bernhard Grzimek (1990), Grzimek's Encyclopedia of Mammals
[0731] Zullinger et al. (1984), Fitting sigmoid equations to mammalian growth curves

External resources

Integrated Taxonomic Information SystemITIS 633726
Animal Diversity WebADW account
Encyclopedia of LifeSearch EOL
Genome ProjectSearch NCBI
Entrez

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