California mammals

Ticul’s desert shrew in California

Notiosorex tataticuli

Native to California SNR Unranked in California

Not listed as nonindigenous in California by USGS NAS; native to its California range.

IUCN Red List status

NE – Not Evaluated

Not yet assessed against IUCN Red List criteria.

Live Ticul's desert shrew walking across a wooden deck, pink pointed snout visibleTicul’s desert shrew (Notiosorex tataticuli)
Photo: Kristen Francis · CC0Live Ticul's desert shrew walking across a wooden deck, pink pointed snout visiblePhoto: Bill Levine · CC BY 4.0Ticul’s desert shrew (Notiosorex tataticuli)

Ticul’s desert shrew in California, by the numbers

Rare in California 195th most recorded of 241 mammals logged in California

20 occurrence records
20 with iNaturalist photos

Records from 2000–2026.

When to look for the Ticul’s desert shrew in California

Most sightings fall in March.

20 California occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) by month of year, 2000–2026. Shows when the species is recorded, not a guarantee of presence. Based on a small number of dated records; the seasonal pattern may not be representative.

Monthly California records (table)
MonthRecords
January0
February1
March9
April3
May1
June1
July0
August1
September1
October0
November2
December1

Monthly ticul’s desert shrew occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) in California, 2000–2026.

Seasonality

Year-round in California, with recorded sightings peaking in March.

Occurrence map

Where Ticul’s desert shrew has been recorded in California

20 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

20 California records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monumentiNaturalist records
Upper Las Virgenes Open Space Preserve / Ahmanson 2
Death Valley National Park 1

Protected places with the most ticul’s desert shrew sightings, from the USGS Protected Areas Database plus named mountain ranges, good spots to look, not a full breakdown, so they don't sum to the total.

Where it's recorded in California

CountyRecords
Ventura County 6
Los Angeles County 5
Riverside County 2
Orange County 2
Inyo County 2
San Diego County 2
San Bernardino County 1

The complete county distribution, spread across 7 California counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

California’s combined state files contain 20 Ticul’s desert shrew records: 20 from iNaturalist and 0 from GBIF. It ranks 195th among 243 mammals in this California record comparison, placing it in the lower third. That’s a ranking of submitted records, not a head count of animals.

The California files don’t contain a complete month-by-month series for this species. That gap limits any claim about seasonal timing, and it doesn’t show that the animal leaves California during part of the year.

California accounts for about 54% of the mapped GBIF records summarized on the national Ticul’s desert shrew page. That’s a large share of the known record footprint, though differences in survey effort can strongly shape the percentage.

Occurrence data from iNaturalist and GBIF.

Live Ticul's desert shrew walking across a wooden deck, pink pointed snout visible
Full species profile Ticul’s desert shrew Notiosorex tataticuli Size 8.1 cm3.2 in Weight 3–6 g0.1–0.2 oz View the full profile

More mammals in California in the atlas

Data & sources

The data and visualizations on this page draw on these open sources:

  • GBIFCC-BY 4.0occurrence records behind the range map, elevation, and record counts
  • iNaturalistCC0 / CC-BY / CC-BY-SAobservations, photos, and audio recordings
  • NatureServe ExplorerCC-BYthe state conservation rank
  • IUCN Red Listattributed factthe global conservation status
  • USGS NASpublic domainnative / introduced status
  • Natural Earthpublic domainthe relief basemap
  • USFSpublic domainnational-forest boundaries
  • USGS Protected Areas Databasepublic domainthe named parks, forests, and refuges behind "notable places to look"