Open AccessEvolutionary history of Sundaland shrews (Eulipotyphla: Soricidae:Crocidura) with a focus on Borneo
Author(s) -
Arlo Hinckley,
Miguel CamachoSanchez,
Manuel Rüedi,
Melissa Hawkins,
Madeleine Mullon,
Anna Cornellas,
Fred Tuh Yit Yuh,
Jennifer A. Leonard
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
zoological journal of the linnean society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.148
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1096-3642
pISSN - 0024-4082
DOI - 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlab045
Subject(s) - shrew , biology , zoology , monophyly , phylogenetics , mammal , evolutionary biology , clade , biochemistry , gene
The hyperdiverse shrew genus Crocidura is one of few small mammal genera distributed across Sundaland and all of its boundaries. This represents a rare opportunity to study the geological history of this region through the evolutionary history of these shrews. We generate a phylogeny of all recognized species of Sundaland Crocidura and show that most speciation events took place during the Pleistocene, prior to the inundation of the Sunda Shelf around 400 000 years ago. We find east–west differentiation within two separate lineages on Borneo, and that the current taxonomy of its two endemic species does not reflect evolutionary history, but ecophenotypic variation of plastic traits related to elevation. Sulawesi shrews are monophyletic, with a single notable exception: the black-footed shrew (C. nigripes). We show that the black-footed shrew diverged from its relatives on Borneo recently, suggesting a human-assisted breach of Wallace’s line. Overall, the number of Crocidura species, especially on Borneo, probably remains an underestimate.