Armored Hero Shrew

Open encyclopedia reference

The hero shrew (Scutisorex somereni), also known as the armored shrew, is a large shrew native to the Congo Basin of Africa. Its features are typical of a white-toothed shrew − short legs, slender snout, dense fur − except for a highly unusual spinal column. It has corrugated interlocking vertebrae that are unique among mammals except for its sister species, Thor's hero shrew. This unique adaptation allows the animal to bear a huge amount of weight on its back − 72 kg (159 lb) according to an expedition team.

The hero shrew lives in both lowland and mountain forests. They live in the undergrowth, feeding primarily on invertebrates. The evolutionary benefit of its unusual spine is unknown; it is hypothesized that it allows the animal to push itself under logs or between a palm tree's leaves and trunk to find food. Local tribes of people believe the hero shrew holds magical powers. It is classified as Least Concern by IUCN.

Wikipedia contributors, Hero shrew; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:11:41.000322+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Scutisorex somereni (Thomas, 1910)

Name authority

(Thomas, 1910)

Common name

Armored Hero Shrew

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Mammalia

Order

Eulipotyphla

Family

Soricidae

Genus

Scutisorex

Extinction status

Recorded extant

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. megaclassTetrapoda
8. classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
9. subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
10. infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
11. orderEulipotyphla Waddell, Okada & Hasegawa, 1999
12. familySoricidae G. Fischer, 1814
13. subfamilyCrocidurinae A. Milne-Edwards, 1872
14. genusScutisorex Thomas, 1913
15. speciesScutisorex somereni (Thomas, 1910)

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Scutisorex. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 289 records assigned to Soricidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=633722 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:4W3BN. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.