This small shrew occurs in Central America. Its original description notes different coat colors on the back and underside.
The back is dark brown, the sides slightly lighter, and the underside gray with conspicuous whitish hair tips. The fur is very short, soft, and glossy. The tail is dark above and paler below, with a minute terminal tuft.
Cryptotis orophilus is a small Central American shrew occurring from Honduras towards Costa Rica. Its habitats include mountain riversides.
On 12 October 1992, a female entered a pitfall on the Río Arcágual floodplain in Celaque National Park, Honduras, at 1,430 metres. She carried three developing embryos. This specimen documented reproduction there in October.
The survey was published in 2012. Two days after her capture, two other shrew species were caught in the same general locality. The authors considered whether similar species might use different fine-scale foraging habitats. The riverside specimens provided clues about reproduction and overlapping occurrence.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
The 2012 paper identifies human and livestock encroachment, invasive organisms and warming as threats to Central American montane habitats. Reliable specimen-based knowledge of this shrew’s occurrence provides a foundation for conserving its mountain habitats.