[2] Measuring about 7.3 inches (19 cm) long and weighing less than an ounce (28 grams), the species is the smallest in the elephant shrew family.

Dumbacher et al. traveled to the Namib Desert nine times over a number of years where they set traps baited with peanut butter, oats, and Marmite.

The scientific team speculated the species had not previously been identified because it has a small range in a remote area that is hard to reach.

A maximum likelihood analysis of four genes by computational phylogenetics indicated that M. proboscideus and M. flavicaudatus are sister species, with M. micus being less closely related.

[2] The authors also explained several limitations and confusions involving an enigmatic report of Macroscelides melanotis (Ogleby 1838), whose type specimen was not available for destructive DNA testing and had an "unnatural" appearance.

Recommending M. melanotis be treated as a nomen dubium, they expressed doubt that the described characteristics were consistent with M. micus: "The reported pale, reddish brown chest color is not visible on the specimen, nor is the dunnish white abdomen or throat.