A small shrew of North America, recorded in tall grass, brush and fallen logs, and soft soils around wetlands.
Under its older name Cryptotis parva, the North American ADW account reports seasonal coat changes: the back is dark brown to reddish brown in winter and gray-brown in summer. The short tail is darker above and paler below.
Cryptotis parvus eats small invertebrates and also stores prey for later use. It moves around the interface between soil and plant litter; finding places where food is available forms part of its everyday life.
A 2012 laboratory study tested 18 shrews from a colony originating in Missouri. Over ten weeks, each repeatedly entered a maze with five blind alleys and a food reward at the goal. The researchers counted entries into blind alleys and found that errors declined with repeated trials.
Shrews fed mealworms with more calcium made fewer maze errors than those fed mealworms with less calcium. The experiment connected a difference in dietary mineral content with performance in a task involving learning a route.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
Connecticut’s 2025 Wildlife Action Plan located the state’s known population in coastal Guilford. DEEP biologists began surveys in July 2023 using drift fences and motion-sensor cameras. Shrews were detected at four of seven arrays in one coastal marsh, and the plan proposed expanding surveys to other coastal marshes. Establishing where the animals occur supports conservation in this part of their range.