This shrew is known from one specimen collected in Bururi Forest Reserve, Burundi. Its description records thick, woolly fur with copper-colored tips on the dorsal hairs.
The single known specimen had very thick, woolly fur. The dorsal hairs had dark slate-gray bases and copper-colored tips; its short, thick tail was light brown.
The Bururi Mouse Shrew inhabits mountain forest in Burundi. It has a broad skull, large teeth and long foreclaws.
The 2010 study examined one male collected in August 1993. It was an old individual with heavily worn teeth and a robust skull. The researchers compared skull and dental features with five other broad-headed species in the genus.
Broad small teeth in both jaws and a deep lower jaw stood out. Compared with the Rumpi Mouse Shrew from Cameroon, it had a broader upper jaw but a shorter skull and narrower braincase. The authors combined these proportions with traits such as its short tail to distinguish a new species. The specimen reveals differences in jaws and teeth even among broadly similar, broad-headed shrews.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
In the 2010 description, the authors used the species name to draw attention to Bururi Forest and its endemic wildlife. Using an earlier estimate of about 16 square kilometres, they described it as a greatly threatened forest island in a densely populated region. Retaining the streamside mountain forest at the collection locality and studying surrounding forest change and the species’ distribution would support conservation.