science

Sonnerat's shrew

Sonnerat's shrew is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Sonnerat's shrew rather than just read about it. In short: Sonnerat's shrew (Diplomesodon sonnerati or Crocidura sonnerati) is a species of shrew that was first described by Pierre Sonnerat from Pondicherry somewhere in 1813. Description It was described as being larger than the commoner Suncus murinus and without a musky smell.

Key takeaways

Sonnerat's shrew belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Sonnerat's shrew to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Sonnerat's shrew from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Sonnerat's shrew (Diplomesodon sonnerati or Crocidura sonnerati) is a species of shrew that was first described by Pierre Sonnerat from Pondicherry somewhere in 1813.

Description It was described as being larger than the commoner Suncus murinus and without a musky smell. Males were shiny black with a white band or patch on the middle of the back. Females also had the white patch but were grey. Sonnerat described the shrew as being five and a half inches [149 mm] from the head to the base of the tail and the tail being one inch and one line or 29 mm.

Taxonomy

Since no specimen of the species exists, both its taxonomic description and its generic placement remain in question. The supposed shrew species was given a scientific name by Anthony Cheke which was first published in 2012 but the description was not considered valid by some as the holotype was not explicitly designated (in this case the illustration, as there was no specimen) and it was therefore redescribed in 2018. The species was placed tentatively in the genus Diplomesodon which is nested within Crocidura according to a molecular phylogenetic study. Cheke placed the species tentatively in the genus based on the observation that the only other shrew species with a piebald pattern was in the central Asian species Diplomesodon pulchellum. Considering that no specimen matching the species has ever been found ever since, it is thought that the species has since gone extinct because it has not been seen alive since 1813. In 2025, a paper described a specimen of a dead shrew photographed in the Nilgiris which may possibly represent this species. Unfortunately no material was collected, making any DNA-sequence based verification of its novelty impossible.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Sonnerat's shrew

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Sonnerat's shrew claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Sonnerat's shrew before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Sonnerat's shrew ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Sonnerat's shrew

In research: Sonnerat's shrew appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Sonnerat's shrew in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Sonnerat's shrew is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Controversial mammal taxa, Purported mammals, Shrews, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Sonnerat's shrew outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Sonnerat's shrew in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Sonnerat's shrew means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Sonnerat's shrew out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Sonnerat's shrew in simple terms?

Sonnerat's shrew (Diplomesodon sonnerati or Crocidura sonnerati) is a species of shrew that was first described by Pierre Sonnerat from Pondicherry somewhere in 1813. Description It was described as being larger than the commoner Suncus murinus and without a musky smell.

Why does Sonnerat's shrew matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Sonnerat's shrew?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Sonnerat's shrew.