This document may be used, with this header included, for noncommercial purposes within a subscribed institution . No copies of this work may be distributed electronically outside of the subscribed institution, in whole or in part, without written permission from the JHU Press . The pelage is soft and dense. The upper parts are rusty brown, with a faint black nape stripe or dorsal stripe sometimes present, and the underparts are grayish, buffy, or yellowish. This genus resembles certain microtine rodents in appearance but has a longer muzzle.
Females have four mammae.
As in Echinosorex, there is a strong characteristic odor. The lesser gymnure usually inhabits humid forests with thick undergrowth in hilly or mountainous areas. A series was trapped under logs in a wild banana grove in Thailand. Hylomys moves on the ground with short leaps, and when threatened, it travels with considerable speed. It has been reported to be active both by day and by night and to use definite paths or runways, often passing under logs slightly off the ground.