The 13th African Small Mammal Symposium (ASMS) was organized on September 16-21, 2019, at Mekelle University in Mekelle, Tigray, Ethiopia. Starting in 1977, these symposia are organized every four years and since 2003 have been held in tropical Africa. The aim of the meetings is to promote communication among researchers and students interested in various aspects of the biology of African small mammals (mainly rodents, insectivores, bats, afrotherians, small carnivores and primates), which are significantly understudied in comparison with their larger relatives. In this editorial contribution, which introduces a special issue of Journal of Vertebrate Biology on African small mammals, we would like to briefly summarize the history of these meetings and to pinpoint the major trends in research on African small mammals, based on an analysis of the presentations at these meetings.