Phylogeny, phylogeography and geographical variation in the crocidura monax (Soricidae) species complex from the montane islands of Tanzania, with descriptions of three new species

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

5-1-2015

Abstract

We assess morphological and multilocus genetic variation among 11 isolated montane populations of white-toothed shrews from Tanzania that have been referred to either Crocidura monaxThomas or C.montisThomas. The montane sites we sampled represent 'sky-islands' from two geologically distinct archipelagos (Northern Highlands and the Eastern Arc Mountains) and are a significant component of the Eastern Afromontane Biodiversity Hotspot. We used multivariate analyses of morphometric traits and phylogenetic and species-delimitation analyses of multilocus DNA sequence data to assess species-level diversity. Our species delimitation analyses included a novel, pairwise validation approach that avoids potential biases associated with specifying a guide tree. These analyses reveal several distinct lineages, which we treat as six allopatric species. Each species is restricted to one, two or four mountains. We use available names to recognize C.monax, C.tansanianaHutterer and C.usambaraeDippenaar, while naming and describing three new species. Our results demonstrate the effectiveness of combining morphological and genetic data to uncover and describe hidden diversity in a cryptic mammalian system.

Publication Source (Journal or Book title)

Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society

First Page

185

Last Page

215

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