Chestnut-breasted Whiteface vs common shrew

Aphelocephala pectoralis compared with Sorex araneus

Key Differences

• Chestnut-breasted Whiteface is Near Threatened while common shrew is Least Concern.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Chestnut-breasted Whiteface	common shrew
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum same	Chordata (Chordates)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class	Aves (Birds)	Mammalia (Mammals)
Order	Passeriformes (Songbirds)	Soricomorpha (Soricomorpha)
Family	Acanthizidae	Soricidae
Genus	Aphelocephala	Sorex
Species	Aphelocephala pectoralis	Sorex araneus

Evolutionary Relationship

Chestnut-breasted Whiteface and common shrew share a common ancestor at the Phylum level: Chordata. (Chordates)

Conservation Status

Chestnut-breasted Whiteface

NT — Near Threatened

common shrew

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Chestnut-breasted Whiteface	common shrew
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Chestnut-breasted Whiteface

Habitat

Typically found in various aerial, terrestrial, and aquatic environments.

Range

Found in Norway. Listed as Near Threatened, this species requires ongoing monitoring to prevent population decline.

common shrew

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

Range

Found across Europe (5 countries) and North America (United States).

Chestnut-breasted Whiteface

The Chestnut-breasted Whiteface (Aphelocephala pectoralis) is a species in the genus Aphelocephala. It is currently classified as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List. Typically found in various aerial, terrestrial, and aquatic environments.

common shrew

<em>Sorex araneus</em>, the common shrew, is a small insectivorous mammal in the family Soricidae, order Eulipotyphla, widely distributed across Europe and portions of the United States and Russia. This species inhabits a broad range of terrestrial environments including woodland, grassland, scrubland, hedgerows, and suburban gardens, typically favoring areas with dense ground cover providing both shelter and hunting opportunities. <em>Sorex araneus</em> is among the smallest mammals, with an exceptionally high metabolic rate that necessitates nearly continuous feeding to survive — it must consume close to its own body weight in food each day. Its diet consists primarily of invertebrates including earthworms, beetles, spiders, and other small arthropods found in leaf litter and soil. The species is listed as Least Concern by the IUCN, with large and stable populations across its range. Biological traits for this species remain poorly documented in the scientific literature in terms of precise standardized averages for lifespan, body length, and weight across populations, though it is known to be a short-lived species with typical wild lifespans of around one year, and is widely studied as a model organism in ecological and physiological research.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 1 countries:

🇳🇴 Norway