46 Mammals of Eastern Asia 
Many people who live in the country have at some time or other 
seen our Long-tailed and Short-tailed Shrews, tiny, tireless bun- 
dles of energy and ferocity. Some Shrews have been found to 
devour their own weight in worms and insects daily. Their con- 
sumption of energy is so great that deprivation of sufficient 
food, even for quite a short space of time, may cause them to 
die. It has not been proved, however, that such rapid deaths are 
due to starvation. They may be induced by the shock of capture. 
Shrews are distinguished by the fact that their enlarged front 
upper incisor teeth have two sharp cusps, placed one behind the 
other. The front cusp is curved forward and downward, the 
hind one downward. Against these operate the strong, dagger- 
like front lower incisors. The whole constitutes a stabbing, nip- 
ping apparatus deadly to the living prey constantly being at- 
tacked by Shrews. Behind the first incisors are several much 
smaller, pointed teeth (the unicuspid teeth) whose number 
varies in different genera, and behind these again a series of 
broader, sharp-cusped grinders or crushing teeth. In most 
Shrews the head is moderately narrowed and the snout very 
long and slender. The ears may be well developed externally or 
in some burrowing and swimming types may be as nearly obso- 
lete as in many of the Moles. 
The Shrews are believed to be descendants from the same 
ancestral stock as the Moles. Unlike typical Moles, their feet 
are not especially adapted for digging; and they are distin- 
guished from even the non-digging Moles by having open, in- 
complete cheek arches. Two subfamilies of Shrews are recog- 
nized: the White-toothed Shrews, Crocidurinae, and the Red- 
(or blackish red) toothed Shrews, Soricinae. 
THE RED-TOOTHED SHREWS (SUBFAMILY SORICINAE) 
These Shrews, which occur in both hemispheres, are largely 
characteristic of the temperate zone. They are absent from 
