Some mammals hibernate to survive in winter, but the Eurasian common shrew (Sorex araneus) employs Dehnel's phenomenon to get through it. This is a metabolic process that enables shrews to conserve ...

There is a small mammal living in a field near you that you may have caught sight of a few times but paid little attention to ...

Most mammals take one of two approaches to survive the winter: they either hibernate, slowing their bodies to a near standstill, or they bulk up with extra fat to burn when food runs low. Then there’s ...

The common shrew looks unremarkable, a few grams of fur and teeth scurrying under leaf litter. Yet this tiny mammal performs one of the strangest tricks in biology, shrinking its own brain and skull ...

Last year, about 30 common shrews from the area around Möggingen had an unusual adventure. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Animal Behavior in Radolfzell captured the animals, measured ...

Common shrews are one of only a handful of mammals known to flexibly shrink and regrow their brains. This rare seasonal cycle, known as Dehnel’s phenomenon, has puzzled scientists for decades. How can ...

Prefer Newsweek on Google to see more of our trusted coverage when you search. According to new research, shrews change their size in accordance with the season. The tiny gray mammals can lose 20 ...

At first glance the common shrew is unremarkable. Between 5 and 8 centimetres long, it looks like a mouse with a pointed nose, or perhaps a miniature mole. If you saw it scurry through a field, you ...