title: Animal sample from Sorex araneus (European shrew) for VGP genome mSorAra2
organism: Sorex araneus
description: The European shrew (Sorex araneus) is the most common shrew and one of the most common mammals, throughout Northern Europe. It is one of the rare venomous mammals and has a life span of approximately 14 months (from Wikipedia entry). This sample is from a juvenile female at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior in Radolfzell, Germany, collected by Marion Muturi, and procured by Liliana M. Davalos and William Thomas at Stony Brook University, New York, to generate a high-quality reference genome for the Vertebrate Genomes Project (VGP). Sequencing and genome assembly were conducted at the Vertebrate Genomes Lab (VGL) at the Rockefeller University, led by Olivier Fedrigo and Erich D. Jarvis. (Note: this sample was likely mis-sexed. The records for this sample and assembly were updated February 2026 to reflect that the individual was actually female.)
attributes.tag: isolate
attributes.value: mSorAra2
attributes.tag: dev_stage
attributes.value: juvenile
attributes.tag: sex
attributes.value: female
attributes.tag: tissue
attributes.value: spleen, kidney, muscle
attributes.tag: biomaterial_provider
attributes.value: Liliana M. Davalos, Stony Brook University/ sample from Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior
attributes.tag: collected_by
attributes.value: Marion Muturi
attributes.tag: collection_date
attributes.value: 2020-11-11
attributes.tag: geo_loc_name
attributes.value: Germany: Radolfzell, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior
attributes.tag: lat_lon
attributes.value: 47.7744 N 9.0157 E
attributes.tag: store_cond
attributes.value: -80oC
attributes.tag: treatment
attributes.value: flash frozen
attributes.tag: BioSampleModel
attributes.value: Model organism or animal