This large shrew has been recorded in lowland forest around Mount Nimba. An older paper used the combination Crocidura goliath nimbasilvanus; the current Mammal Diversity Database lists C. nimbasilvanus as a species.
It has long, coarse brown fur, and the lower part of the face is paler than the upper part.
The Nimba Giant White-toothed Shrew is a large forest shrew of West Africa. Its large body resembles that of the Central African Goliath Shrew, but its upper molars differ markedly.
A 2013 study compared 16 skulls of this species with 96 Goliath Shrew skulls. Researchers photographed their undersides and analysed shape using 76 landmark positions. The Nimba species had a broader skull, and its rearmost upper molar was about twice as large as its counterpart’s.
Genetic comparisons instead placed it close to another West African species, Crocidura nimbae. The authors suggested that large bodies could have developed independently in the two lineages. This illustrates how outward resemblance can differ from evolutionary relatedness.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
Published in 2021, the Mount Nimba survey reported one individual in gallery forest in Guinea and one in lowland forest in Liberia. The paper identified regional forest pressures including seasonal fires, mining in two localised areas, and lowland logging and agricultural clearance. Retaining gallery and lowland forests and monitoring habitat condition would support conservation in this region.