Villa's Gray Shrew is an arid-zone shrew described relatively late compared to most Mexican mammals, and remains one of the least known of its entire genus despite being formally described decades ago. It inhabits arid and semi-arid scrubland in a very specific area of central Mexico, a habitat much drier than that occupied by most shrews, which are almost always adapted to damp forest environments. Its name honours a renowned Mexican mammalogist who made a decisive contribution to the knowledge of the country's mammal fauna throughout the 20th century. Like other shrews, it has a very high metabolic rate that requires it to feed with extreme frequency, a biological demand difficult to reconcile with the scarcity of prey typical of the arid environments where it lives.
A small shrew with uniform greyish pelage, a long, mobile snout, and tiny eyes barely visible through the fur. Villa's Gray Shrew is easily confused with other grey shrews of the genus Notiosorex from arid regions of Mexico and the south-western United States, which often require cranial or genetic analysis for reliable identification.
Track tiny, barely 1 cm long, and rarely visible except on very fine substrate. Droppings tiny and dark, just a few millimetres long, containing insect chitin fragments visible under magnification, left scattered along its surface runways under scrubland vegetation. It takes shelter in shallow burrows beneath stones or fallen logs, and reveals its presence through a sharp, high-pitched squeak when threatened.
Arid and semi-arid scrub, generally in lowlands and low mountains. Distributed across a specific area of central Mexico.
Insectivorous, feeding on insects and other invertebrates in arid scrub, captured to sustain a very high metabolic rate that requires it to feed with extreme frequency.
Continuously active in short bouts throughout the day and night due to its very high metabolic rate, exhibiting solitary and territorial behaviour.
Its known distribution is small and fragmented, with few confirmed records, placing its populations in a vulnerable position facing any alteration of the arid scrub on which it depends.
Conversion of native arid scrub through agricultural and livestock expansion in central Mexico, alongside the small known extent of its range.
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