Diplomesodon sonnerati Cheke, 2012:96
Sonnerat's shrew
Taxonomy & Nomenclature
Synonym/s: Diplomesodon sonnerati Cheke, 2018 (junior homonym)
Conservation Status
Last record: 1814 or before (Cheke, 2012)
Rediscovered on: 1 October 2022 (Nizamudheen et al., 2025)
Distribution & Habitat
Puducherry (formerly Pondicherry) & Tamil Nadu, India
Biology & Ecology
Sonnerat's shrew (Diplomesodon sonnerati) is a hypothetical species of shrew which was described by Pierre Sonnerat (after whom the species is named) in his unfinished manuscript Nouveau voyage aux Indes (1814). He noted that it was almost completely black, with only a large white band on its back, and of exceptional size for a shrew (5 1/2 inches long).
Hypodigm
Media
References
Original scientific description:
Cheke, Anthony S. (2012). Sonnerat's shrew-evidence for a new and possibly extinct species in an early 19th century manuscript (Mammalia: Soricidae). Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 108(2): 95-97.
Other references:
Cheke, Anthony S. and Hume, Julian Pender. (2018). The Réunion Fody and Sonnerat’s Shrew and the validity of scientifically naming animals described without physical types. Zootaxa 4382(3): 592-600. [Abstract]
Nizamudheen, Moinudheen, Arockianathan, Samson, Sirajudeen, Mohammed Shahir, Anbazhagan, Abinesh and Rajaboopathi, Brawin Kumar. (2025). Rediscovery of an ‘extinct’ endemic mammal Sonnerat’s Shrew (Diplomesodon sonnerati Cheke, 2012) in Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu, India. Iranian Journal of Animal Biosystematics 21(2): 171-174. https://doi.org/10.22067/ijab.2025.90911.1089
https://extinctanimals.proboards.com/thread/15999/diplomesodon-sonnerati-sonnerats-shrew