Alpine shrew
Sorex alpinus
The Alpine shrew ( Sorex alpinus ) is a mammal of the family of shrews. They inhabited the mountains of Central and Southeastern Europe.
Mark
The head-body length of 62-85 mm and tail length 54-75 mm. This year's animals weigh 5.2 to 7.7 g; Animals in the spring after hibernation from 8.7 to 11.5 g The coat is gray-black almost all over the body, only the tail base and the tops of the feet are white. The trunk tip is pink.
Dissemination
The Alpine shrew is one of the few mammal species that are endemic in Europe. The spatially highly fragmented ( disjoint ) range of the species includes the middle and high mountains of central and southern Europe from Spain to Romania. The main distribution areas are the Alps, the Carpathians and the mountains in the northwest of the Balkan Peninsula. In the Pyrenees, the kind early 20th century, is probably extinct. In Germany, the Alpine shrew comes in the Alps, the Black Forest, the Swabian Alb, in the Bavarian Forest, the Fichtelgebirge, in the Rhön and in the Zittau Mountains ago, in resin, it is also likely extinct.
Habitat
The Alpine shrew settled in the mountains almost exclusively the submontane to alpine areas at altitudes between 500-2550 m. You reached the highest densities in the forest on the banks of small to medium sized streams at altitudes around 1000 m. There they lived in dense moss covered rocks and stumps. At altitudes below 500 m the kind of small Bachtälchen comes only cut into deep, found in forests. Above the tree line and dry habitats such as alpine mats and boulder fields are populated, where she lives in crevices and under dwarf shrubs.
Way of life
The animals are diurnal and nocturnal and climb well. The diet consists mainly of arachnids, earthworms, chitinarmen insects and their larvae and snails. The propagation takes place from April to October. A female usually has three litters a year, each comprising 3 to 9, usually 5-6 boy.
Inventory and risk
The Alpine shrew is considered " critically endangered " in Germany due to their fragmented occurrence and threats to its habitat due to river bank stabilization and forestry interventions in the red list out. In Switzerland, it is considered safely. The IUCN classifies the Alpine shrew worldwide in 2008 as a sort of " early warning " a ( " near threatened ").