Eurasian least shrew, Hokkaido subspecies
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An illustration based on the real animal.
A little discovery to share.
The Hokkaido least shrew lives in grasslands, wetlands and woods of low shrubs.
THE REAL WORLD
The real Eurasian least shrew, Hokkaido subspecies
- Scientific name
- Sorex minutissimus hawkeri
- Japanese name
- トウキョウトガリネズミ
- Group
- Land mammals
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Eulipotyphla
- Family
- Soricidae
- Genus
- Sorex
This page introduces a subspecies of the Eurasian least shrew, which is widespread across northern Eurasia.
Although its Japanese name includes the word for “mouse,” it is not a mouse but a very small mammal closely related to moles.
It lives nowhere but Hokkaido, yet is named “Tokyo”; one theory says the specimen label's “Yezo” (Hokkaido) was mistaken for “Yedo” (Edo).
It eats earthworms, insects, spiders and the like, but much about its life is still a mystery.
Basic data
- Size
- Head and body length: 45–49 mm
- Weight
- 1.5–1.8 g
- Diet
- Earthworms, insects, spiders, and other animals
- Range
- Hokkaido, Japan
- Conservation status in Japan
- Vulnerable (VU)Ministry of the Environment of Japan, Red List 2020
Watch wild animals from a distance. Do not touch or feed them, and take care of the places where they live.
Names around the world
- 日本語
- トウキョウトガリネズミ
- 简体中文
- 东京尖鼠
- 繁體中文
- 東京尖鼠
Names come from Wikidata and iNaturalist records. Where a language has no recorded name, we use the scientific name.
Sources and how we check
- 多摩動物公園 — チビトガリネズミ（トウキョウトガリネズミ）Checked: 2026-11-03
- Ministry of the Environment of Japan, Red List 2020Checked: 2026-11-07
We check each fact against its source. The illustrations simplify how the real animal looks.
The classification (class, order, family, genus) follows Wikidata records, checked against GBIF. Classifications can change as research goes on.
The basic data are the values given in each source. They vary with how the animal is measured, whether it is male or female, and whether it lives in the wild or in captivity.
The conservation status in Japan is the category in the Red Lists of the Ministry of the Environment of Japan, which assess the risk of extinction for wild animals in Japan.
This page was translated from the original Japanese with the help of AI.
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