Cotton Thistle vs Flat-skulled Shrew

Onopordum acanthium compared with Sorex roboratus

Key Differences

Cotton Thistle is Endangered while Flat-skulled Shrew is Least Concern.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Cotton Thistle	Flat-skulled Shrew
Kingdom	Plantae (Plants)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)	Mammalia (Mammals)
Order	Asterales (Daisies & Sunflowers)	Soricomorpha (Soricomorpha)
Family	Asteraceae (Daisy Family)	Soricidae
Genus	Onopordum	Sorex
Species	Onopordum acanthium	Sorex roboratus

Conservation Status

Cotton Thistle

EN — Endangered

Flat-skulled Shrew

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Cotton Thistle	Flat-skulled Shrew
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Cotton Thistle

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including temperate broadleaf and mixed forests, tundra, and tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, among 10 distinct biome types. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Widely distributed across Asia (Georgia, India, Japan), Europe (22 countries), North America (Canada, United States), Oceania and the Pacific (Australia, New Zealand), and South America (Argentina, Brazil, Chile). Currently classified as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.