It has a comparatively heavy body, with short limbs and a thick neck, a long, pointed snout and ears that are nearly concealed by its soft, dense fur.

[4] However, these range from dry to wet and even swampy habitats, as well as disturbed forests and abandoned agricultural land.

[4] The southern short-tailed shrew's diet consists of insects, annelids, hypogeous fungi, slugs and snails, centipedes, and spiders.

[7] The southern short-tailed shrew is a social animal; it has been known to share its burrow systems with several individuals.

[4] The young are reared in nests of grasses and leaves at the end of a tunnel reaching about 30 cm (12 in) below the ground, or in rotten logs.