A new species of Asiatic shrew of the genus Chodsigoa (Soricidae, Eulipotyphla, Mammalia) from the Dabie Mountains, Anhui Province, eastern China

By

Chen, Zhongzheng
Hu, Tingli
Pei, Xiaoxin
Yang, Guangdao
Yong, Fan
Xu, Zhen
Qu, Weiying
Onditi, Kenneth
Zhang, Baowei

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2022

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

1083

Pages

129--146

Subjects

Chodsigoa dabieshanensis , molecular analysis , Morphology , new species , taxonomy

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1083.78233

 

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, Chodsigoa dabieshanensissp. nov., which is formally described here. Morphologically, the new species is most similar to Chodsigoa hypsibia, 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. dabieshanensissp. 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.