Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Preface
- 1 Adaptations to the semi-aquatic habit and habitat
- 2 Physiological challenges in semi-aquatic mammals: swimming against the energetic tide
- 3 Diving capacity and foraging behaviour of the water shrew (Neomys fodiens)
- 4 Habitat use by water shrews, the smallest of amphibious mammals
- 5 The importance of the riparian environment as a habitat for British bats
- 6 A preliminary study of the behaviour of the European mink Mustela lutreola in Spain, by means of radiotracking
- 7 The demography of European otters Lutra lutra
- 8 Habitat use and conservation of otters (Lutra lutra) in Britain: a review
- 9 The relationship between riverbank habitat and prey availability and the distribution of otter (Lutra lutra) signs: an analysis using a geographical information system
- 10 Influence of altitude on the distribution, abundance and ecology of the otter (Lutra lutra)
- 11 Diets of semi-aquatic carnivores in northern Belarus, with implications for population changes
- 12 Otter (Lutra lutra) prey selection in relation to fish abundance and community structure in two different freshwater habitats
- 13 Diet, foraging behaviour and coexistence of African otters and the water mongoose
- 14 Feeding ecology of the smooth-coated otter Lutra perspicillata in the National Chambal Sanctuary, India
- 15 Population trends of hippopotami in the rivers of the Kruger National Park, South Africa
- 16 Reproductive strategies of female capybaras: dry-season gestation
- 17 The continuing decline of the European mink Mustela lutreola: evidence for the intraguild aggression hypothesis
- 18 Otters and pollution in Spain
- 19 The rapid impact of resident American mink on water voles: case studies in lowland England
- 20 Status, habitat use and conservation of giant otter in Peru
- Index
4 - Habitat use by water shrews, the smallest of amphibious mammals
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 May 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Preface
- 1 Adaptations to the semi-aquatic habit and habitat
- 2 Physiological challenges in semi-aquatic mammals: swimming against the energetic tide
- 3 Diving capacity and foraging behaviour of the water shrew (Neomys fodiens)
- 4 Habitat use by water shrews, the smallest of amphibious mammals
- 5 The importance of the riparian environment as a habitat for British bats
- 6 A preliminary study of the behaviour of the European mink Mustela lutreola in Spain, by means of radiotracking
- 7 The demography of European otters Lutra lutra
- 8 Habitat use and conservation of otters (Lutra lutra) in Britain: a review
- 9 The relationship between riverbank habitat and prey availability and the distribution of otter (Lutra lutra) signs: an analysis using a geographical information system
- 10 Influence of altitude on the distribution, abundance and ecology of the otter (Lutra lutra)
- 11 Diets of semi-aquatic carnivores in northern Belarus, with implications for population changes
- 12 Otter (Lutra lutra) prey selection in relation to fish abundance and community structure in two different freshwater habitats
- 13 Diet, foraging behaviour and coexistence of African otters and the water mongoose
- 14 Feeding ecology of the smooth-coated otter Lutra perspicillata in the National Chambal Sanctuary, India
- 15 Population trends of hippopotami in the rivers of the Kruger National Park, South Africa
- 16 Reproductive strategies of female capybaras: dry-season gestation
- 17 The continuing decline of the European mink Mustela lutreola: evidence for the intraguild aggression hypothesis
- 18 Otters and pollution in Spain
- 19 The rapid impact of resident American mink on water voles: case studies in lowland England
- 20 Status, habitat use and conservation of giant otter in Peru
- Index
Summary
Introduction
Water shrews are the smallest of amphibious mammals. They are insectivores belonging to the family Soricidae and, although the aquatic species are larger than most terrestrial species, they have a body length of only 70–130 mm and a body mass of 8–56 g. Thirteen species of water shrews are currently recognized (Wilson & Reeder, 1993), belonging to four genera (Table 4.1), and they have a wide geographical distribution through the Nearctic, Palaearctic and parts of south–east Asia where they are associated with freshwater streams and marshlands. Shrews have excited considerable interest because of their large energy demands, high levels of activity and voracious appetites. Water shrews, with their habit of diving in cold waters for aquatic prey, and the consequent energy costs of this, provide an additional dimension to the study of the physiology and ecology of very small mammals. However, compared with their terrestrial counterparts, remarkably little is known about water shrews, and many species have rarely been sighted or captured. This review investigates the geographical and habitat occurrence of water shrews and the use they make of the aquatic mode of life.
Anatomical adaptations to a semi–aquatic mode of life
Convergent evolution has occurred several times in the Soricidae, and adaptations for a semi–aquatic mode of life have developed in four different genera (Sorex, NeomySy Chimarrogale and Nectogale) and in two different continents. It is noteworthy that the genus Crocidura (to which some 125 of the 233 shrew species are ascribed) possesses no aquatic examples.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Behaviour and Ecology of Riparian Mammals , pp. 49 - 68Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1998
- 7
- Cited by