
Photo: (c) Kim, Hyun-tae, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY 4.0
Crocidura shantungensis
Rare visitor: recorded only occasionally in this country
Range
East Asia: Siberia, Russia, much of China, Korea including Jeju, the Japanese islands of Tsushima and Kamishima, and Taiwan
Size
Head and body 5.1–6.5cm; tail 3.5–4.3cm
With a head-and-body length of about 5.1–6.5 centimetres, the Asian garden shrew, as the German article calls it, is among the smallest shrews of Eurasia, about as large as two species found only on Hainan. The tail is 35–43 millimetres, comparatively short at about 70 percent of the head-and-body length; it is very broad at the base and narrows towards the tip, and it carries numerous tactile bristles. The hind foot is 10–13 millimetres. (German Wikipedia, general species account)
The species occurs in East Asia from Siberia and Russia over large parts of China and Korea, including the island of Jeju. It also lives on the Japanese islands of Tsushima and Kamishima and on Taiwan. (German Wikipedia, general species account) Its occurrence in Japan is independently supported by the national species catalogue used for this guide. Its occurrence in Japan is independently supported by the national species catalogue and distribution evidence used for this regional guide.