NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Greater White-toothed Shrew
Crocidura russula (Hermann, 1780)
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.
Young shrews (crocidura, most likely c. russula) near their nest. Picture taken at a compost heap in Germany.
Holger Casselmann · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The greater white-toothed shrew (Crocidura russula) is a small insectivorous mammal found in Europe and North Africa.
It is the most common of the white-toothed shrews. This species is found along the Mediterranean, Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland, Germany and Portugal; in addition, the Osorio shrew of the Canary island of Gran Canaria, originally described as a separate species (Crocidura osorio), was later discovered to be a population of introduced greater white-toothed shrew. Furthermore, a subspecies of the greater white-toothed shrew, Crocidura russula ibicensis, is found on the Mediterranean island of Ibiza. In April 2008, the greater white-toothed shrew was discovered in Ireland as well, and in 2021 in England, discovered by a cat named Jeff. Its preferred habitats are grassland and woodland. It is slightly larger than the lesser white-toothed shrew but otherwise very similar and can often be distinguished only by close inspection of its teeth which are unpigmented.
Wikipedia contributors, Greater white-toothed shrew; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T11:45:09.713498+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Crocidura russula (Hermann, 1780)
- Name authority
- (Hermann, 1780)
- Common name
- Greater White-toothed 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 russula (Hermann, 1780)
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 russulus Hermann, 1780 Hermann, 1780 | 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=633672 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.
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:ZK7F. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.