It measures about 5 cm (2.0 in) in length, not including the 3.5 cm (1.4 in) tail, and has an average weight of 4 g (0.14 oz).The hair on the back is blackish with shades ranging from reddish to purplish, very dense and shiny: the belly, throat, jaw, periocular area and lower part of the tail are contrasted whitish.

Eurasian pygmy shrews are solitary animals, active throughout the day and night and inhabiting areas of dense vegetation across a broad elevation range.

The whole life is spent on a few hundred square metres where they establish trackways.The Eurasian pygmy shrew has one of the highest metabolic rates of any animal; to maintain homeostasis, it must eat every two hours.

Since the gestation period is just over three weeks, they can have up to five litters in one year, though the life span of a pygmy shrew is a little over 15 months.

[4] Content in this edit is translated from the existing Italian Wikipedia article at it:Sorex minutus; see its history for attribution.