The Christmas Island shrew, a tiny mammal once found only on the Australian island of the same name, has been declared officially extinct. It’s at least the fourth small mammal species to be wiped out ...

“A spiteful, nagging, and ill-tempered person” is one definition of a shrew. Two species of shrews, of the animal nature, occur in our area and this name association hasn’t improved their images.

Once abundant on Christmas Island, the tiny, five-gram shrew (Crocidura trichura) filled the night forest with its high, thin cry before vanishing into silence. Introduced black rats and their ...