Etruscan Shrew vs Jerusalem thorn

Suncus etruscus compared with Parkinsonia aculeata

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Etruscan Shrew	Jerusalem thorn
Kingdom	Animalia (Animals)	Plantae (Plants)
Phylum	Chordata (Chordates)	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)
Class	Mammalia (Mammals)	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)
Order	Soricomorpha (Soricomorpha)	Fabales (Legumes & Allies)
Family	Soricidae	Fabaceae
Genus	Suncus	Parkinsonia
Species	Suncus etruscus	Parkinsonia aculeata

Conservation Status

Etruscan Shrew

LC — Least Concern

Jerusalem thorn

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Etruscan Shrew	Jerusalem thorn
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Etruscan Shrew

Habitat

Inhabits deserts and xeric shrublands within the Afrotropic biogeographic realm.

Range

Found across Asia (Cyprus, Yemen) and Europe (6 countries).

Jerusalem thorn

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests, and tropical and subtropical grasslands and savannas, among 6 distinct biome types. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (33 countries), Asia (16 countries), Europe (4 countries), North America (8 countries), Oceania and the Pacific (Australia, Micronesia), and South America (Brazil, Chile, Colombia).

Etruscan Shrew

Etruscan Shrew (Suncus etruscus) is classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List. Widespread and abundant across its range, with stable populations and no immediate conservation concerns.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 5 countries:

🇨🇾 Cyprus 🇬🇷 Greece 🇮🇹 Italy 🇪🇸 Spain 🇾🇪 Yemen