Phylogenetic relationships among East Asian species of Crocidura (Mammalia, Insectivora) inferred from mitochondrial cytochrome b gene sequences

Phylogenetic relationships among the East Asian species of the genus Crocidura (Mammalia, Insectivora, Soricidae) were inferred from the partial sequences (402 base pairs) of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene. Six species of Crocidura and one representative of another insectivoran genus Suncus were examined. In the neighbor joining tree, four distinct lineages were recognized: C. lasiura from northeastern China and Korea, and C. dsinezumi from the main-islands of Japan; C. attenuata from Taiwan; C. watasei from the Amami and Okinawa Groups, and S. murinus from the Miyako Group; and C. suaveolens from Tsushima and Taiwan, and C. sibirica from Central Asia in Russian territory. All these lineages excluding C. lasiura and C. dsinezumi were also recognized by the maximum parsimony analysis. Clustering of C. watasei with S. murinus suggested the non-monophyly of the genus Crocidura as of the present definition. Biogeographical implications of the present results were also discussed.