NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Gueldenstaedt's Shrew
Crocidura gueldenstaedtii (Pallas, 1811)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
Güldenstädt's shrew (Crocidura gueldenstaedtii) is a species of mammal in the family Soricidae. It is sometimes considered a subspecies of the lesser white-toothed shrew (C. suaveolens), but more recent studies support it being a distinct species. It is named after Johann Anton Güldenstädt.
It has a wide range throughout Europe, from Spain west to Russia, and south through the Caucasus to the Middle East, as far south as the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt. Mummified shrews from the beginning of the Ptolemaic Period at Quesna, Egypt, have also been identified to this species, indicating that it once occurred in the Nile Delta, where it no longer does, supporting a moister regional environment at the time.
It contains several subspecies from western Europe and the island of Cyprus that may represent distinct species of their own.
Wikipedia contributors, Güldenstädt's shrew; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T07:47:55.106111+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Crocidura gueldenstaedtii (Pallas, 1811)
- Name authority
- (Pallas, 1811)
- Common name
- Gueldenstaedt's Shrew
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Eulipotyphla
- Family
- Soricidae
- Genus
- Crocidura
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
- subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
- infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
- orderEulipotyphla Waddell, Okada & Hasegawa, 1999
- familySoricidae G. Fischer, 1814
- subfamilyCrocidurinae A. Milne-Edwards, 1872
- genusCrocidura Wagler, 1832
- speciesCrocidura gueldenstaedtii (Pallas, 1811)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Crocidura. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Tanzanian ShrewCrocidura tansaniana Hutterer, 1986 | SoricidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Ussuri ShrewCrocidura lasiura Dobson, 1890 | SoricidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Neglected ShrewCrocidura neglecta Jentink, 1888 | SoricidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Voi ShrewCrocidura voi Osgood, 1910 | SoricidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Congo ShrewCrocidura congobelgica Hollister, 1916 | SoricidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Heather ShrewCrocidura erica Dollman, 1915 | SoricidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Javan Long-tailed White-toothed ShrewCrocidura abscondita Eselstyn, Achmadi & Maharadatunkamsi, 2014 | SoricidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Bekele's White-toothed ShrewCrocidura afeworkbekelei Lavrenchenko, Voyta & Hutterer, 2016 | SoricidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Crocidura anhuiensis H. Zang, B.W. Zhang & C. Li, 2019 | SoricidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Batak White-toothed ShrewCrocidura batakorum Hutterer, 2007 | SoricidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Crocidura brevicauda Esselstyn et al., 2021 | SoricidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Crocidura caudipilosa Esselstyn et al., 2019 | SoricidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Sorex gueldenstaedtii Pallas, 1811 Pallas, 1811 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Europe & Northern Asia (excluding China)
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=633602 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:CFQ2X. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.