A revision of the geographical distributions of the shrews Crocidura tanakae and C. attenuata based on genetic species identification in the mainland of China

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.