The oldest shrews, represented by the extinct family Heterosoricidae, were found in the Middle Eocene of North America. They lived also in Europe and Asia and finally disappeared in the Late Miocene. Their place of origin is still unknown. The ‘true’ shrews (family Soricidae) appeared for the first time in the Early Oligocene in Europe. They belonged to the extinct subfamily Crocidosoricinae. They were also found in Asia and North Africa and survived to the end of the Miocene or ?Early Pliocene (Gargano, Italy). They are considered to be of European origin. The remaining subfamilies i. e. Allosoricinae, Limnoecinae, Crocidurinae and Soricinae are not known before the Miocene. Allosoricinae were found in Europe and Asia Minor where they are known from the Early Miocene until the Late Pliocene. Probably their main evolution took place in Europe. The members of the extinct, and exclusively North American, Limnoecinae are known from the Early Miocene until the earliest Pliocene. The oldest remains of the Recent Old World subfamily Crocidurinae are known from the Middle Miocene of Asia Minor and Africa. In Europe, the first Crocidurinae are known from the Late Pliocene, in eastern Asia from the Pleistocene. Their great recent diversity in Africa and late appearance in Europe and eastern Asia suggest that their evolution took place mostly in Africa. Also the second Recent subfamily Soricinae is now extremely diversified. Their oldest remains were found in the Early Miocene of Europe and represented by the genus Hemisorex. More or less from the same time Soricinae are known from North America. They belong to the genus Antesorex. The first occurrences of the remaining species of the Soricinae are from the European Late Miocene, the end of the Middle Miocene of North America and the Late Miocene of Asia.

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Deinsea

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Natuurhistorisch Museum Rotterdam

B. Rzebik-Kowalska. (2003). Distribution of shrews (Insectivora, Mammalia) in time and space. Deinsea, 10(1), 499–508.