#hero shrew

[opellisms]

Round 1 and 2 artwork from the Itty Bitty Comeback City division.

Patagonian mara round 1 & 2 Sea otter round 1 & 2 Pygmy jerboa Thor's hero shrew

Bonus first draft of the pygmy jerboa art:

[alithographica]

So many animals have superpowers and just use them to eat better food. And honestly? I respect that.

Transcript below the cut.

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The African hero shrew (Scutisorex somereni) and Thor’s hero shrew (S. thori) are two species of shrew found in the forests of the eastern Congo Basin in Africa. At first glance the shrews look unremarkable—the first description of S. somereni in 1910 included no special notes—but in 1917 scientists realized it had the strangest spine of any known mammal.*

*As with many exciting “discoveries”, the locals already knew this. It was named “hero shrew” by the Mangbetu people, who celebrate it as a symbol of courage and protection.

Spines are fairly consistent across most mammals, with the majority possessing 5-7 lumbar vertebrae between the rib cage and pelvis. But Thor’s hero shrew has 8, and the African hero shrew has a whopping 11. More interestingly, the vertebral processes (small projections where muscles attach) have become complex, interlocking units that allow the shrew to support enormous weight. One popular story says that a grown man stood on a shrew for five minutes, and afterwards it scurried away unharmed (but likely much less thrilled by the situation than the human was).

[Offset image: A comparison between a human lumbar vertebrae and a hero shrew’s. The shrew’s is covered in extra processes, making it appear much rougher.]

The purpose of this special spine hasn’t been fully confirmed, but the shrews are common around palm trees. It is suspected that they wedge themselves underneath rocks, logs, or the leaf bases on palm trees to find insects.

[Image: A shrew with a superimposed partial skeleton, showing a particularly thickened spine]

[fox-teeth]

Magical Art Therapy ● Sigil for Staying Strong

(series) (prints)

(note: this sigil was based on a very touching ko-fi request. If you are interested in commissioning a sigil based on your prompt through ko-fi, please click here to learn more)

[frogs-robots-and-wizardry]

Fact of the Day 19.7.22 The hero shrew of the Congo has a unique spine that can lock together allowing the shrew to survive being crushed by huge weights. If a human had the same scaled ability they would be able to survive being landed on by a Boeing 747.

[animaltoday]

Thor’s Hero Shrew (Scutisorex throi) -

This little shrew has become the missing link between the common shrews and the original hero shrew.  The first hero shrew was discovered over 50 years ago while the Thor’s hero shrew was only discovered this past year in early 2013. The most remarkable thing about this shrew is its spine.  Both hero shrews have fewer lumbar vertebrae that interlock.  This allows the shrew to have a much stronger back.  It is able to lift heavy things to find food or squeeze under large logs or rocks.  It is also capable of withstanding massive weights.  Because its lumbar vertebrae are fused, it is slightly less flexible, but is still able to turn around in tight spaces. 

When the Thor’s hero shrew was discovered, it provided an answer to the mystery of the link between the hero shrew (figure B) and the common shrew (figure A).  Thor’s hero shrew’s spine (figure C) had more vertebrae than the hero shrew, but less than the common shrew. No other mammals have this unique backbone.

[obscurezoology]

The Armoured Shrew (Scutisorex somereni) or Hero Shrew is a small mammal primarily found within the Congo Basin in Central Africa, living in lowland and montane tropical moist forest.

This shrew has short legs, dense fur and a slender snout as other white-toothed shrews, but this species is unique for the corrugated interlocking vertebrae that consist of its spinal column. The only other shrew species with such a structure is Thor's hero shrew (Scutisorex thori). 

Having such a densely constructed spine allows this creature to bear a much larger amount of weight on it's back than other shrews, with one expedition team successfully testing up to 72kg (160 lb). That's impressive for a creature that measures ~25cm and weights 70-113 grams (2.5-3.7 in).. In one of the stranger experiment methods I've read, the explorers discovered this fact by accidentally (and then purposefully) stepping on one particular shrew they found, one man going so far as to balance on one foot, and finding the shrew (allegedly) unharmed. It was found that between the strengthened spine and the convex curve behind the shoulders, the vital organs are protected from being crushed in this manner.

This strength works out to the shrew supporting about 1000 times its own body weight, or the equivalent of a human holding up 10 elephants. It's not quite clear the evolutionary purpose of such a spine, but one theory is that it allows the animal to push itself under logs, between palm leaves and tree trunks in its search for food.

Like other small mammals, armoured shrew is an insectivore, but its diet can also include small amphibians and lizards. In captivity, their diet is supplemented with bird and mammal meat.

The native people of its homeland consider the armoured shrew to have magical properties, being used as a talisman by the Mangbetu people. Tradition dictates that any part of the shrew, even ashes, will provide invincibility in battle. Despite this, the species is considered plentiful and "Least Concern" by the UCUN.

[versatilism]

That is some backbone.

Some bonus facts from wiki:

The spine of the hero shrew accounts for 4% of its body weight, in contrast to 0.5–1.6% for a typical small mammal.

When a hero shrew has a man standing on it, that

represented a weight of roughly 1000 times the animal's body weight, the equivalent of a human holding 10 elephants.

[neverneverboredland]

"Wow, This is science" says the quirky host, Emily Graslie. It is, and it is amazing. I love this youtube series, The Brain Scoop, and this is one of my favorite videos they have done. In this video Emily is at the The Field Museum in Chicago and the story of the discovery of the missing link between a normal shrew and the hero shrew is briefly explained. It may not sound significant but for the longest time there was little to none known about how the Hero Shrew developed it’s unique spine structure. This museum also holds the only specimen of the missing link in the entire world-which easily explains Emily’s state of awe.