Sorex ornatus (Ornate Shrew)
about the species
The ornate shrew is broadly distributed across central California west of the Sierra Nevada, south from the Transverse Ranges to San Diego County and beyond into Baja California. It is also found in wetland pockets along the eastern slope of the southern Sierra Nevada, in tidal marshes that fringe the great San Francisco Bay region and estuary marshes along parts of the central and southern coasts, on Santa Catalina Island, and isolated wetland pockets on the floor of the San Joaquin Valley.
why species was selected
One subspecies of the Ornate shrew (S. o. relictus) is ESA Endangered and four subspecies are CDFW Species of Special Concern (CDFW August 2019).
Explore other species
Species
