Blind Small-eared Shrew vs Common cattle grub

Cryptotis niausa compared with Hypoderma lineatum

Key Differences

• Blind Small-eared Shrew is Data Deficient while Common cattle grub is Extinct.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Blind Small-eared Shrew	Common cattle grub
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Chordata (Chordates)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class	Mammalia (Mammals)	Insecta (Insects)
Order	Soricomorpha (Soricomorpha)	Diptera (Diptera)
Family	Soricidae	Oestridae
Genus	Cryptotis	Hypoderma
Species	Cryptotis niausa	Hypoderma lineatum

Evolutionary Relationship

Blind Small-eared Shrew and Common cattle grub share a common ancestor at the Kingdom level: Animalia. (Animals)

Conservation Status

Blind Small-eared Shrew

DD — Data Deficient

Common cattle grub

EX — Extinct

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Blind Small-eared Shrew	Common cattle grub
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Blind Small-eared Shrew

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

Range

Distributed across Colombia and Ecuador.

Common cattle grub

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Distributed across Japan, Norway, Sweden, and United States.

Blind Small-eared Shrew

The Blind Small-eared Shrew (Cryptotis niausa) is a species in the genus Cryptotis. It is currently classified as Data Deficient on the IUCN Red List. Typically found in diverse terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

Common cattle grub

<em>Hypoderma lineatum</em>, commonly known as the common cattle grub, is a parasitic fly species with documented occurrences in Japan, Norway, Sweden, and the United States. It typically inhabited terrestrial and freshwater environments, often associated with cattle and other large ungulates on which its larvae develop as subcutaneous parasites. The species is classified as Extinct on the IUCN Red List, indicating that it is no longer known to exist in the wild. Common cattle grub belongs to the genus <em>Hypoderma</em> within the family Oestridae. Adult flies do not feed and are short-lived, while larvae burrow under the skin of host animals, causing a condition known as hypodermosis or warble fly infestation. The decline and extinction of this species has been linked to widespread and highly effective veterinary treatment programs targeting warble fly larvae in cattle, which drastically reduced host populations and ultimately eliminated the species. Biological traits such as average lifespan, body length, and mass of this species remain poorly documented in the scientific literature.