Piebald shrew

The piebald shrew is a remarkable small creature native to the Turan Lowland, a region situated east of the Caspian Sea in Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. This tiny shrew measures between 2 and 2 3/4 inches in length and spends its nights hunting insects and lizards.

Notably, the piebald shrew is the only remaining species in the genus Diplomesodon. In 2011, researcher A. Cheke proposed the existence of another species, Diplomesodon sonnerati, which might have already become extinct. This hypothesis was based on a 19th-century manuscript. In 2018, the species was re-described to conform to the specific criteria set by the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN), thereby formalizing its classification.