ABSTRACT
Asiatic shrews of the genus Chodsigoa (Soricidae, Eulipotyphla) currently comprise nine species, mostly occurring in southwest China. From May 2017 to August 2020, 11 specimens of Chodsigoa were collected from the Dabie Mountains in Anhui Province, eastern China. Their morphology was compared with other species within the genus and one mitochondrial (cytochrome b) and two nuclear (apolipoprotein B and breast cancer 1) genes were sequenced to estimate the phylogenetic relationships of these specimens. Based on morphological and molecular evidence, these specimens are recognized as a distinct species, Chodsigoadabieshanensis sp. nov., which is formally described here. Morphologically, the new species is most similar to Chodsigoahypsibia, but it is distinguishable from all known congeners by the combination of dark brownish pelage, small size, and relatively short tail. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that C.dabieshanensis sp. nov. forms a phylogenetic lineage sister to the clade containing C.parva + C.hypsibia. The-Kimura 2-parameter genetic distances of the cytochrome b (CYT B) gene between the new species and other nominal Chodsigoa species ranged between 8.6 and 17.6%. The new species is distributed at elevations from 750 to 1250 m in the Dabie Mountains and is geographically distant from other species in the genus.
ABSTRACT
During a terrestrial vertebrate survey of the Dabie Mountains in Anhui Province, eastern China, we collected four Asian shrew mole specimens (hereafter, shrew moles). Based on published literature and comparison with previously collected materials, the four specimens were similar to shrew moles from the mountains of Southwest China; however, no species in this group has been previously recorded from the Dabie Mountains. The genetic and morphological characteristics of the specimens were analyzed, based upon which a new species of shrew mole is described, named Uropsilus dabieshanensis sp. nov.
