Neurotrichus is a
genus of
shrew-like
moles. It is classified, together with the fossil genus
Quyania, in the tribe
Neurotrichini of the subfamily
Talpinae. The only living species is the
American shrew-mole (
N. gibbsii) of the northwestern United States and
British Columbia. A fossil species, ?
Neurotrichus columbianus from the
Hemphillian of
Oregon, was placed in the genus in 1968, but this animal is now thought to be more closely related to the Chinese fossil genus
Yanshuella. Another fossil species,
Neurotrichus polonicus from the
Plio-Pleistocene of Poland, was assigned to
Neurotrichus in 1980, and a second Polish Pliocene species,
N. minor was added in 1993. Although it was proposed in 2004 to place these two species in
Quyania, this has not been universally accepted. Because the name
N. minor was
preoccupied, it was replaced with
Neurotrichus skoczeni in 2010.