{{Short description|Genus of mammals}} {{about|the shrew|the fictional species from ''Star Wars''|List of Star Wars species (A–E)#Blarina}} {{Automatic taxobox | name = American short-tailed shrews<ref name=msw3>{{MSW3 |id=13700341| pages = 269–270}}</ref> | fossil_range = Late Pliocene to Recent | image = southern short-tailed shrew.jpg | image_caption = Southern short-tailed shrew (''Blarina carolinensis'') | taxon = Blarina | authority = Gray, 1838 | type_species = ''Corsira (Blarina) talpoides'' <ref name=msw3/> | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = *''B. brevicauda'' *''B. carolinensis'' *''B. hylophaga'' *''B. peninsulae'' *''B. shermani'' }}
The genus '''''Blarina''''', commonly called '''short-tailed shrews''', is a genus of relatively large shrews with relatively short tails found in North America.
== Description == They have 32 teeth and are in the red-toothed shrew subfamily. They generally have dark fur and thick feet. The saliva of these animals is toxic and is used to subdue prey.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Kita M, Okumura Y, Ohdachi SD, Oba Y, Yoshikuni M, Nakamura Y, Kido H, Uemura D | title = Purification and characterisation of blarinasin, a new tissue kallikrein-like protease from the short-tailed shrew ''Blarina brevicauda'': comparative studies with blarina toxin | journal =Biological Chemistry | volume = 386 | issue = 2 | pages = 177–82 |date=February 2005 | doi = 10.1515/BC.2005.022 | pmid = 15843162| hdl = 2115/7398 | s2cid = 2884850 | hdl-access = free }}</ref>
== Species == Species are:<ref name="msw3" /> *Northern short-tailed shrew ''B. brevicauda'' *Southern short-tailed shrew ''B. carolinensis'' *Elliot's short-tailed shrew ''B. hylophaga'' *Everglades short-tailed shrew ''B. peninsulae'' *Sherman's short-tailed shrew ''B. shermani;'' possibly extinct<ref>{{Cite web |title=''Blarina shermani'' |url=https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.100006/Blarina_shermani |access-date=2023-03-30 |website=NatureServe Explorer}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=''Blarina shermani'' Hamilton, 1955 |url=https://www.mammaldiversity.org/explore.html#genus=Blarina&species=shermani&id=1004124 |access-date=2023-03-30 |website=www.mammaldiversity.org}}</ref>
== Ecoepidemiology == Short-tailed shrews are one of the animal reservoirs of the agents of Lyme disease and human babesiosis.<ref>Telford III, S. R., Mather, T. N., Adler, G. H., & Spielman, A. (1990). ''Short-tailed shrews as reservoirs of the agents of Lyme disease and human babesiosis''. The Journal of parasitology, 681-683 ([https://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/3282982?uid=3738016&uid=2&uid=4&sid=21103094817717 abstract])</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}} {{Eulipotyphla|S1.}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q468813}}
Category:Blarina Category:Mammal genera Category:Animals that use echolocation Category:Taxa named by John Edward Gray
{{redtoothed-shrew-stub}}