This fuzzy little shrew has nature’s toughest backbone
Who says you can't be tough and cute at the same time? (Julian Kerbis Peterhans/)What’s small, furry, brown, and able to handle the weight of a full-grown human? Since the early 1900s, we’ve known that this little bodybuilder is none other than the hero shrew. The Congolese critter is legendary for its purported ability to withstand an adult man standing on its back, allegedly scurrying away unbothered once it’s released.“No big deal, it’s a shrew that weighs like 80 grams, and a 160-pound dude standing on it, and it’s totally fine,” says Stephanie Smith, a postdoc fellow at the Field Museum of Natural History.While that story might be more of a slightly upsetting tall tale than a science experiment, the strength of these wee beasts is no joke. Their spines are stronger than anything seen in another creature, including other shrews. There are only two species of hero shrew, one...