ZooKeys 869: 147-I 60 (20 | 9) A peer-reviewed open-access journal ah aoe ee ees #ZooKeys http:/ / ZOO keys -pen soft. net Launched to accelerate biodiversity research A revision of the geographical distributions of the shrews Crocidura tanakae and C. attenuata based on genetic species identification in the mainland of China Yaoyao Li', Haotian Li', Masaharu Motokawa’, Yi Wu?, Masashi Harada’, Huimei Sun', Xinmin Mo', Jing Wang', Yuchun Li' | Marine College, Shandong University (Weihai), Weihai 264209, China 2 The Kyoto University Museum, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan 3 School of Life Sciences, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou 510006, China 4 Laboratory Animal Center, Osaka City University, Osaka 545-8585, Japan Corresponding author: Yuchun Li (li_yuchun@sdu.edu.cn) Academic editor: Jesus Maldonado | Received 14 February 2019 | Accepted 9 July 2019 | Published 5 August 2019 http://zoobank.org/FID8D3D4-A57C-4822-AD 96-D BA3F4A3001D Citation: Li Y, Li H, Motokawa M, Wu Y, Harada M, Sun H, Mo X, Wang J, Li Y (2019) A revision of the geographical distributions of the shrews Crocidura tanakae and C. attenuata based on genetic species identification in the mainland of China. ZooKeys 869: 147-160. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.869.33858 Abstract The Taiwanese gray shrew (Crocidura tanakae) and Asian gray shrew (C. attenuata) are so similar in size and morphology that the taxonomic status of the former has changed several times since its description; C. tanakae has also been regarded as an endemic species of Taiwan Island. In recent years, molecular identification has led to several reports of C. tanakae being distributed in the mainland of China. In this study, we determine the geographical distribution of C. attenuata and C. tanakae based on more than one hundred specimens collected during 2000 to 2018 over a wide area covering the traditional ranges of the two species in the mainland of China, and show a substantial revision of their distributions. Among 110 individuals, 33 C. attenuata and 77 C. tanakae were identified by Cytb gene and morphologies. Our results show, (1) C. attenuata and C. tanakae are distributed sympatrically in the mainland of China; (2) contrary to the previous reports, the distribution range of C. attenuata is restricted and much smaller than that of C. tanakae in the mainland of China; (3) Hainan Island, like Taiwan Island, is inhabited by C. tanakae only according to the present data. Keywords Crocidura attenuata, Crocidura tanakae, geographical distribution, mainland of China, Taiwan Island Copyright Yaoyao Li et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. 148 Yaoyao Li et al. / ZooKeys 869: 147-160 (2019) Introduction The Taiwanese gray shrew (Crocidura tanakae Kuroda, 1938) and Asian gray shrew (C. at- tenuata Milne Edwards, 1872) are distinct species with very similar morphological char- acters and measurements, such that the taxonomic status of C. tanakae has been changed several times by taxonomists. Crocidura tanakae was originally described from Taiwan as a new species by Kuroda (1938); however, because it could not be distinguished from C. attenuata in morphological characters and measurements, C: tanakae was thereafter regarded as a synonym or subspecies, C. a. tanakae by many authors (Ellerman and Mor- rison-Scott 1951; Jameson and Jones 1977; Corbet and Hill 1992; Hutterer 1993; Fang et al. 1997;). Motokawa et al. (2001) recognized the distinct taxonomic position of C. tanakae by chromosomal data, and regarded it as the endemic species of Taiwan Island. In recent years, the application of molecular identification techniques led to reports of C. tanakae populating the mainland of China. Esselstyn et al. (2009) and Esselstyn and Oliveros (2010) genetically identified specimens collected in Vietnam and the Hunan and Guizhou Provinces of China and found most of their specimens belonged to C. tanakae; only a few were attributed to C. attenuata. Bannikova et al. (2011) and Abramov et al. (2012) reported that C. tanakae was also found in Vietnam and Laos, and it was a wide- spread species in Vietnam, whereas C: attenuata inhabited only the north and east of the Red River; Chinese scientists recently reported C. tanakae was collected from the main- land of China including Mount Emei of Sichuan Province, Mount Fanjing of Guizhou Province, Pingbian and Funing of Yunnan Province and Xingshan of Hubei Province (Cheng et al. 2017; Chen et al. 2018; Lei et al. 2019). However, these reports only pro- vided the data for several distribution areas and were not sufficient to generalise the overall distributions of the two species in the mainland of China. The current [UCN distribution maps of C. attenuata and C. tanakae presented in Figure 1 are revised by this study. We accumulated more than one hundred specimens from 19 areas of C. attenuata and C. tanakae in our field surveys in the mainland of China from 2000 to 2018, which expands the previous distributions from the aforementioned reports from a few localities. A re-evaluation of geographical distributions of the two species is important to a range of studies and practical needs, such as zoogeography, geophylogeny, agriculture animal management, health and epidemic prevention. Here we report the wide geographical distributions of C. attenuata and C. tanakae in the mainland of China. Materials and methods Samples and DNA sequencing A total of 110 specimens of the C. attenuata complex were collected from 11 provinces in the mainland of China including Anhui (2 specimens), Fujian (4), Guangdong (23), Guangxi (4), Hubei (4), Hunan (3), Jiangxi (13), Sichuan (Chongqing is included) (30), Yunnan (1) and Zhejiang (23) as well as the Hainan Island (2) using Sherman live A revision of the geographical distributions of the shrews Crocidura tanakae and C. attenuata... 149 Crocidura attenuata Myanmar z “#05 Bangladesh Thailand ji G sd oo 0.05) the parametric independent sample “test was used (Suppl. material 1, Table $3). Descriptive statistics for external and cranio- dental measurements of the two species and literature measurements (including holo- type) are given in Table 1; they were basically consistent with the variation range and limits recorded in the literature except for IOB. Crocidura attenuata was a little larger than C. tanakae in GBL, MPL and BBC. Although there existed significant differences (P<0.05) in some morphological indices between the two species (Table 2), their range of measurements greatly overlapped. In the PCA made on external and skull measure- ments, three principal components were extracted and captured 70.07% of the total variation. Five indices, GBL, GLS, LUTR, BBC and LM, were the top five with the highest correlations with the first axis (PC1, Table 3). The sample distributions over the scatter plot in coordinate area constructed by first two principal component axes showed a great overlap between the two species in external and skull indices (Fig. 6), indicating that morphological indices cannot accurately identify the two species. 154 Yaoyao Li et al. / ZooKeys 869: 147-160 (2019) superior = articular SA, basioccipital @ | a y facets | A am suture Figure 4. Comparison of crania of Crocidura attenuata (S2576) and Crocidura tanakae (S2566) from Baoxing, Sichuan. Top row from left to right: dorsal views of the skulls of C. attenuata and C. tanakae (S2576 andS2566), ventral views of the skulls in the same order. Lower row: lateral view of skulls and mandibles from top to bottom of C. attenuata and C. tanakae (S2576 and S2566). posterobuccal crest paracone Crocidura attenuata (S2576) Crocidura tanakae (S2566) Figure 5. Comparison of teeth of Crocidura attenuata (left: S2576) and Crocidura tanakae (right: S2566) from Baoxing, Sichuan. A revision of the geographical distributions of the shrews Crocidura tanakae and C. attenuata... 155 Table |. External and cranial measurements of C. attenuata and C. tanakae (in millimeters). Mean + stand- ard deviation (SD), and range, with number of specimens in parentheses are presented for characters available. Morphological Crocidura attenuata Crocidura tanakae indices This study Jenkins et al. 2009 This study Kuroda 1938 Fang et al. Motokawa et (including holotype) (Holotype) 1997 al. 2001 Total Body Length 133.92+6.22 * 132.95+6.84 = a is (TBL) 120.00-144.00 (26) = 115.00-148.00 (64) = = = Head and Body 77.96+3.54 71.40£6.64 78.90+5.42 66.00 77.90£3.60 73.3646.67 Length (HBL) 71.00-87.00 (26) 63.00-82.00 (10) 70.00—95.00 (64) = 69.70-86.00 64.5-84.5 Ear Length (EL) 8.32+1.05 = 8.79+1.00 - 8.96+0.39 9.05+0.91 6.05-10.16 (26) 10.00 (2) 5.97-11.06 (63) = 8.10-9.80 7.9-10.2 Greatest Length of 20.99+0.59 20.55£0.66 20.5440.61 20.00 20.8440.42 20.85+0.41 Skull (GLS) 20.12-22.36 (23) 19.60-21.70 (9) —-19.23-21.69 (61) = 20.03-21.82 19.94-21.31 Cranial base Length 20.91£0.57 a 20.39+0.61 - 19.8840.46 - (GBL) 20.04—22.26 (24) = 18.85—21.68 (61) = 19.06-20.73 - Median palatal 9.07+£0.41 - 8.89+0.31 - - - Length (MPL) 8.35-10.13 (26) i 8.14-9.61 (63) 4 = Length of tooth row 9.36+0.26 8.72+0.38 9.1640.34 9.00 9.2940.16 9.33+0.19 (LUTR) 8.97-9.96 (26) 8.20-9.50 (11) 8.19-9.91 (63) = 8.73-9.62 8.87-9.54 Greatest palatal 6.25£0.16 6.09+0.22 6.32£0.31 - 6.3340.16 6.4140.13 breadth (GPB) 5.96-6.55 (26) 5.80-6.50 (11) 5.65—6.97 (64) = 5.98-6.68 6.20-6.58 Breadth of Occipital 5.20+0.19 ral 5.13£0.23 = a = Condyles (BOC) 4.78-5.55 (22) z 4,485.64 (60) E 4 = Greatest Breath of 9.59+0.27 9.17+£0.24 9.26+0.32 = 9.23+0.18 9.22+0.22 Braincase (BBC) 8.98-10.25 (26) 8.70-9.40 (8) 8.57-10.02 (64) = 8.00-9.66 8.87—9.50 Interorbital Breadth 3.9740.23 4.43+0.18 3.79£0.17 4.50 4.50+0.10 4.62+0.10 (IOB) 3.61—4.46 (26) 4.10-4.70 (9) 3.43-4.23 (64) = 4.29-4.68 4.47-4.74 Height of the Brain- 5.13+0.14 4,.91+0.10 5.01+0.15 - - - case (HB) 4.80—5.42 (26) 4.80—5.10 (8) 4.65-5.35 (64) = si a Length of mandible 10.0140.28 12.7640.62 9.85+0.33 = 8.38+0.20 = (LM) 9.34-10.67 (26) 11.7-13.9 (11) 9.06-10.52 (64) a 7.88-8.91 - cD . fa C. attenuata @ScBx VHB asc @ScBx mF ae eu C. tanakae + $00 a oar aZJ @cGD PC1 Figure 6. Scatter plot of C. attenuata (red) and C. tanakae (blue) sample distribution over PC1 and PC2 axes constructed based on external and skull morphological variables. Different symbols represent different populations. GD: Guangdong, FJ: Fujian, ZJ: Zhejiang, SCBX: Baoxing, Sichuan, HB: Hubei, SC: Si- chuan, GX: Guangxi, AH: Anhui, HuN: Hunan, HN: Hainan, CQ: Chongging, YN: Yunnan, JX: Jiangxi 156 Yaoyao Li et al. / ZooKeys 869: 147-160 (2019) Table 2. Morphological comparisons and significant difference between C. attenuata and C. tanakae in this study. Values in bold show significant differences. Morphological indices T test/Mann-Whitney U Test F Sig. t Df (N) Z P Total Body Length (TBL) (90) -0.687 0.492 Head and Body Length (HBL) (90) -0.478 0.633 Ear Length (EL) (89) -2.08 0.038 Greatest Length of Skull (GLS) 0.149 0.701 -3.045 82 0.003 Cranial base Length (GBL) 0.133 0.717 -3.541 83 0.001 Median palatal Length (MPL) 1.214 0.274 -2.263 87 0.026 Length of teeth row (LUTR) 1.174 0.282 -2.615 87 0.011 Greatest palatal breadth (GPB) (90) -1.077 0.281 Breadth of Occipital Condyles (BOC) (82) -1.256 0.209 Greatest Breath of Braincase (BBC) 1.416 0.237 -4,666 88 <0.001 Interorbital Breadth (IOB) 2.492 0.118 -4,143 88 <0.001 Height of the Braincase (HB) 1.131 0.29 -3.61 88 0.001 Length of mandible (LM) 2.766 0.1 2.195 88 0.031 Table 3. Principal component loadings as performed by analyses of 13 morphological measurements of C. attenuata and C. tanakae. Variable Component PC1 PC2 PC3 Total Body Length (TBL) 0.691 0.550 0.065 Head and Body Length (HBL) 0.435 0.607 0.458 Ear Length (EL) 0.101 0.706 -0.314 Greatest Length of Skull (GLS) 0.948 -0.088 -0.062 Cranial base Length (GBL) 0.966 -0.096 -0.055 Median palatal Length (MPL) 0.815 0.041 -0.372 Length of teeth row (LUTR) 0.867 -0.139 0.017 Greatest palatal breadth (GPB) 0.566 0.138 0.458 Breadth of Occipital Condyles (BOC) 0.545 -0.358 0.561 Greatest Breath of Braincase (BBC) 0.837 -0.140 -0.022 Interorbital Breadth (IOB) 0.470 0.035 -0.368 Height of the Braincase (HB) 0.590 -0.223 -0.252 Length of mandible (LM) 0.820 -0.126 -0.045 % of total variance explained 49.876 11.087 9.110 Eigenvalue 6.484 1.441 1.184 Among the localities of our field surveys, C. tanakae was recorded at almost all sites investigated (Fig. 3), whereas C. attenuata was only found in the following six prov- inces: Sichuan Province (Baoxing), Fujian Province (Mount Wuyi), Hubei Province (Shennongjia), Guangdong Province (Nanling), Jiangxi Province (Mount Jinggang), and Zhejiang Province (Jinhua). Discussion This study indicates that C. attenuata and C. tanakae are sympatrically distributed not only in continental Indochina (Jenkins et al. 2009, 2013; Bannikova et al. 2011; Abramov et al. 2012) but also in the mainland of China. The distribution of C. attenuata is apparently limited to only two ranges, i.e., Baoxing of Sichuan to Shennongjia of Hubei and Nanling A revision of the geographical distributions of the shrews Crocidura tanakae and C. attenuata... 157 of Guangdong to Jinhua of Zhejiang; the natural range of this species is much smaller than that of C. tanakae which is distributed almost all over the south of mainland China. Note that the map of C. attenuata (Fig. 1, left) presented by the IUCN is erroneous due to the regular events of species misidentification of C. tanakae in the mainland of China. The IUCN map mistakenly shows the mixed distributions of both C. attenuata and C. tanakae; the presented distributions of C. attenuata in Taiwan and the Hainan Islands are erroneous for the same reason. For the distribution map of C. tanakae (Fig. 1, right), the range is not definitively established due to the few districts surveyed and information from more recent records has yet not to be included. Based on morphological features we found among our samples and the results of its comparisons with type materials of C. attenuata and C. tanakae (Jenkins, et al., 2009, 2013), we consider that the specimens of the C. attenuata lineage should be at- tributed to C. attenuata, and the other lineage to C. tanakae. Wang (2003) divided C. attenuata into three subspecies in China, including the Himalayan subspecies (C. a. rubricosa Anderson, 1877) distributed in northwestern Yunnan (Gongshan), the South China subspecies (C. a. attenuata Milne-Edwards, 1872) distributed in other parts of mainland China and the Taiwan subspecies (C. a. tanakae Kuroda, 1938) distributed on Taiwan Island. It is clear that C. a. tanakae is actually a valid distinct species (Mo- tokawa et al. 2001), but the other two subspecies still need taxonomical validation by detailed analysis to exclude the possibility of misidentification of C. tanakae specimens. Similarly, the same taxonomic challenge exists for C. a. grisea Howell, 1926, the sub- species distributed in the Fujian Province (Smith and Xie 2009). All these subspecies are uncertain because the authors may well have wrongly included specimens of C. tanakae mixed with C. attenuata samples. There are many research reports listing C. attenuata in the mainland of China. For example, Zhang et al. (1987) investigated C. attenuata (attenuate in original paper) as a host animal of epidemic hemorrhagic fever, Wu (2002) reported population density fluctuation in C. attenuata, and many reports on animal diversity and pathogen host studies involved C. attenuata. Gu et al. (2007) reported that epidemiologic surveillance on leptospirosis in the Anhui Province and the first discovery of a pathogenic strain in the renal of C. attenuata, Wu et al. (2008) made a preliminary comparative anatomical study of digestive tracts between C. attenuata and Apodemus agrarius. Because C. tanakae might have been taxonomically misidentified with C. attenuata in these reports, and our present study demonstrates that C. tanakae is much more widely distributed in the mainland of China, the species “C. attenuata” described in these reports may be in fact C. tanakae or at least contains C. tanakae, results of these studies therefore need re-evaluation. 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The specimen information of genus Crocidura and outgroup used in the present study. Table $3. Normality test of ex- ternal and skull morphological indices of C. attenuata and C. tanakae. Copyright notice: This dataset is made available under the Open Database License (http://opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/1.0/). The Open Database License (ODDbL) is a license agreement intended to allow users to freely share, modify, and use this Dataset while maintaining this same freedom for others, provided that the original source and author(s) are credited. Link: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.869.33858.suppl1