Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming Yunnan 650223, China.
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3T 2N2, Canada.
Zool Res. 2018 Sep 18;39(5):321-334. doi: 10.24272/j.issn.2095-8137.2018.058. Epub 2018 Jun 28.
Blarinellini is a tribe of soricine shrews comprised of nine fossil genera and one extant genus. Blarinelline shrews were once widely distributed throughout Eurasia and North America, though only members of the Asiatic short-tailed shrew genus currently persist (mostly in southwestern China and adjacent areas). Only three forms of have been recognized as either species or subspecies. However, recent molecular studies indicated a strikingly deep divergence within the genus, implying the existence of a distinct genus-level lineage. We sequenced the complete mitochondrial genomes and one nuclear gene of three Asiatic short-tailed and two North American shrews and analyzed them morphometrically and morphologically. Our molecular analyses revealed that specimens ascribed to formed two deeply diverged lineages, one a close relative to , whereas the other - comprised of topotype specimens from southern Gansu - diverged from other Blarinella in the middle Miocene (ca. 18.2 million years ago (Ma), 95% confidence interval=13.4-23.6 Ma). Although the skulls were similarly shaped in both lineages, we observed several diagnostic characteristics, including the shape of the upper P. In consideration of the molecular and morphological evidence, we recognize B. griselda as the sole species of a new genus, namely, gen. nov. Interestingly, some characteristics of Pantherina griselda are more similar to fossil genera, suggesting it represents an evolutionarily more primitive form than Blarinella. Recognition of this new genus sheds light on the systematics and evolutionary history of the tribe Blarinellini throughout Eurasia and North America.
巴氏狸属是由 9 个化石属和 1 个现存属组成的麝鼩族。巴氏狸属曾广泛分布于欧亚大陆和北美洲，但目前仅存亚洲短尾鼩属的成员（主要在中国西南部和相邻地区）。只有三种形式的被认为是物种或亚种。然而，最近的分子研究表明，该属内部存在明显的深度分化，暗示存在一个独特的属级谱系。我们对三种亚洲短尾鼩和两种北美麝鼩的完整线粒体基因组和一个核基因进行了测序，并进行了形态学和形态计量学分析。我们的分子分析表明，被归为的标本形成了两个深度分化的谱系，一个与亲缘关系密切，而另一个——由来自甘肃南部的模式标本组成——从中新世中期（约 1820 万年前，95%置信区间为 134-236Ma）就与其他巴氏狸属分化开来。尽管两个谱系的头骨形状相似，但我们观察到了一些诊断特征，包括 P 的形状。考虑到分子和形态证据，我们将 B. griselda 作为一个新属的唯一物种，即，属。有趣的是， Pantherina griselda 的一些特征与化石属更为相似，表明它比巴氏狸属代表了一种更原始的进化形式。对这个新属的认识揭示了欧亚大陆和北美洲巴氏狸族的系统发育和进化历史。
