The chestnut-bellied shrew has a reddish back and pale-tipped belly fur. It occurs in montane forests and nearby meadows in central Mexico.
The central parts of the dorsal hairs are light red with dark-brown tips. The ventral hairs have blond tips, and the tail is bicolored.
In the temperate mountains of Mexico City and the State of Mexico, it has been recorded in pine, fir, and oak forests and in meadows next to those forests.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.