Cryptotis montecristo is a small-eared shrew described from Montecristo Mountain in Central America. Its known locality is limited to the mountain on the El Salvador–Guatemala–Honduras border, with records from wet montane forest.
It is a shrew with a short tail. The back is clove-brown, while the underside is paler and grayer. Its feet are broad, with long, broad foreclaws.
Cryptotis montecristo has a short row of small, single-cusped upper teeth. In the type skull, the fourth tooth is concealed in side view. Dental details help distinguish this small mountain mammal from its close relatives.
A 2019 study selected an adult male collected on Montecristo Mountain, El Salvador, in February 1954 as the name-bearing specimen of a new species. Sixty-five years separated collection from description. Earlier accounts had assigned the mountain’s shrews to other species.
Comparisons of skull dimensions and tooth rows identified a distinctive combination: large external body size together with a relatively short tail and short unicuspid tooth row. Re-examining an old specimen within a broader comparison gave the mountain’s shrew its own name.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
In the Trifinio-Fraternidad region containing Montecristo Mountain, forest loss, land-use change and pollution have been identified as conservation concerns. UNESCO launched a connectivity project in April 2025, harmonizing land-use maps across the three countries and working with communities to identify potential habitat links and restoration priorities. Considering the mountain’s moist forest alongside its surrounding landscape is important for habitat conservation.