Sorex minutissimus
Rare visitor: recorded only occasionally in this country
Habitat
Variable: forests, bare mountain ranges and wetlands; often in buildings in winter
Range
From Lapland across Russia to the Pacific including Hokkaido; southernmost in central Kazakhstan, central Mongolia and northeast China
Size
Head and body about 4cm; tail about 2.5cm
Weight
1.5–4g
The Eurasian least shrew is the second smallest member of the shrew family after the Etruscan shrew. It reaches only about 4 centimetres in head-and-body length with a tail of about 2.5 centimetres and weighs 1.5–4 grams. Depending on the season the fur on the upper side is reddish-brown or grey-brown, with a marked boundary to the light grey underside. The tail is only sparsely haired. Not all of the described subspecies are generally accepted. (German Wikipedia, general species account)
The main range extends from Lapland across Russia to the Pacific coast, including the Japanese island of Hokkaido, with scattered finds in other parts of Norway and Sweden. The southernmost occurrences are in central Kazakhstan, central Mongolia and northeast China. The species is variable in habitat, living for example in forests, on bare mountain ranges and in wetlands, and in winter it is often found in buildings. (German Wikipedia, general species account)