Dianat Malahat, Voet Inessa, Ortiz David, Goüy de Bellocq Joëlle, Cuypers Laura N, Kryštufek Boris, Bureš Michal, Čížková Dagmar, Bryjová Anna, Bryja Josef, Nicolas Violaine, Konečný Adam
Institute of Vertebrate Biology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Kvetna 8, 603 65 Brno, Czech Republic; Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kotlarska 2, 611 37 Brno, Czech Republic.
Institut de Systematique, Evolution, Biodiversite (ISYEB), Museum national d'Histoire naturelle, CNRS, Sorbonne Universite, EPHE, Universite des Antilles, CP51, 75005 Paris, France.
Mol Phylogenet Evol. 2023 Mar;180:107708. doi: 10.1016/j.ympev.2023.107708. Epub 2023 Jan 16.
Crocidura (Eulipotyphla, Soricidae) is the most species-rich genus among mammals, with high cryptic diversity and complicated taxonomy. The hirta-flavescens group of Crocidura represents the most abundant and widespread shrews in savannahs of eastern and southern Africa, making them a suitable phylogeographical model for assessing the role of paleoclimatic changes on current biodiversity in open African habitats. We present the first comprehensive study on the phylogeography, evolutionary history, geographical distribution, systematics, and taxonomy of the group, using the integration of mitochondrial, genome-wide (ddRAD sequencing), morphological and morphometrical data collected from specimens over most of the known geographic distribution. Our genomic data confirmed the monophyly of this group and its sister relationship with the olivieri group of Crocidura. There is a substantial genetic variation within the hirta-flavescens group, with three highly supported clades showing parapatric distribution and which can be distinguished morphologically: C. hirta, distributed in both the Zambezian and Somali-Masai bioregions, C. flavescens, known from South Africa and south-western Zambia, and C. cf. flavescens, which is known to occur only in central and western Tanzania. Morphometric data revealed relatively minor differences between C. hirta and C. cf. flavescens, but they differ in the colouration of the pelage. Diversification of the hirta-flavescens group has most likely happened during phases of grassland expansion and contraction during Plio-Pleistocene climatic cycles. Eastern African Rift system, rivers, and the distinctiveness of Zambezian and Somali-Masai bioregions seem to have also shaped the pattern of their diversity, which is very similar to sympatric rodent species living in open habitats. Finally, we review the group's taxonomy and propose to revalidate C. bloyeti, currently a synonym of C. hirta, including the specimens treated as C. cf. flavescens.
麝鼩属（真盲缺目，鼩鼱科）是哺乳动物中物种最丰富的属，具有高度的隐秘多样性和复杂的分类学。麝鼩属的希氏 - 淡黄麝鼩类群是东非和南非稀树草原中数量最多、分布最广的鼩鼱，这使它们成为评估古气候变化对非洲开阔栖息地当前生物多样性作用的合适系统地理学模型。我们首次对该类群进行了全面的系统地理学、进化历史、地理分布、系统分类学和分类学研究，整合了从已知地理分布的大部分区域收集的线粒体、全基因组（ddRAD测序）、形态学和形态测量学数据。我们的基因组数据证实了该类群的单系性及其与麝鼩属奥利维耶麝鼩类群的姐妹关系。希氏 - 淡黄麝鼩类群内部存在大量遗传变异，有三个得到高度支持的分支呈现邻域分布，并且在形态上可以区分：分布在赞比西生物区和索马里 - 马赛生物区的希氏麝鼩，已知分布于南非和赞比亚西南部的淡黄麝鼩，以及仅知分布于坦桑尼亚中部和西部的淡黄麝鼩疑似种。形态测量数据显示希氏麝鼩和淡黄麝鼩疑似种之间差异相对较小，但它们在毛色上有所不同。希氏 - 淡黄麝鼩类群的分化很可能发生在上新世 - 更新世气候周期的草原扩张和收缩阶段。东非大裂谷系统、河流以及赞比西生物区和索马里 - 马赛生物区的独特性似乎也塑造了它们的多样性模式，这与生活在开阔栖息地的同域啮齿动物物种非常相似。最后，我们回顾了该类群的分类学，并提议重新确认目前作为希氏麝鼩同义词的布洛耶蒂麝鼩，包括被视为淡黄麝鼩疑似种的标本。
