Molecular and morphological evidence support a new species of Asiatic short-tailed shrew (Eulipotyphla: Soricidae)

Abstract

Asiatic short-tailed shrews (Blarinella and Parablarinella) are small insectivorous mammals distributed mainly in central and southwestern China, and adjacent Myanmar and Vietnam, currently comprising three species. In 2021, we collected five specimens of Asiatic short-tailed shrews in the Dabie Mountains, eastern China, which is geographically distant from the known distribution of the taxa. Herein, we integrated molecular and morphometric approaches to assess the taxonomy, phylogeny, and divergence of Asiatic short-tailed shrews. Our results indicate that the specimens collected from Dabie Mountains represent a new species, formally described here. The new species is morphologically distinguishable from other Asiatic short-tailed shrews by the combination of a triangular upper P4, lighter feet color, relatively broader skull, and more curved outline of tooth row of P4–M3. Phylogenetic analyses indicate the new species is sister to P. griselda, and the p-distance of Cyt b between the two species is 8.3%. The divergence between the new species and P. griselda occurred ca. 3.08 million years ago and may have been affected by East Asia’s topographic and climate changes in the late Pliocene.