Molecular phylogeny and taxonomy of the genus Nectogale (Mammalia: Eulipotyphla: Soricidae)

• Published in: Ecology and evolution Vol. 12; no. 10; pp. e9404 - n/a
• Main Authors: Fan, Ronghui, Tang, Keyi, Dou, Liang, Fu, Changkun, Faiz, Abu ul Hassan, Wang, Xuming, Wang, Yufan, Chen, Shunde, Liu, Shaoying
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bognor Regis John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.10.2022; John Wiley and Sons Inc; Wiley
• Subjects: Adenosine; Brain-derived neurotrophic factor; Ethanol; Genes; Mastoids; Mitochondria; mitochondrial DNA; molecular phylogeny; Morphology; Nectogale; nuclear DNA; Phylogenetics; Phylogeny; Pleistocene; Taxonomy; Tibet; China
• ISSN: 2045-7758; 2045-7758
• DOI: 10.1002/ece3.9404

The elegant water shrew, Nectogale elegans, is one of the small mammal species most adapted to a semi‐aquatic lifestyle. The taxonomy of the genus Nectogale has received little attention due to difficulties in specimen collection. In this study, we sequenced one mitochondrial and eight nuclear genes to infer the phylogenetic relationship of Nectogale. Phylogenetic analyses revealed two large clades within Nectogale. One clade represented N. elegans, and the other was regarded as N. sikhimensis. The split between N. elegans and N. sikhimensis dated back to the early Pleistocene (2.15 million years ago [Ma]), which might be relevant to the Qinghai‐Tibet Plateau (QTP) uplift. The morphological comparison showed several distinguishing characters within Nectogale: the shape of the mastoids, the first lower unicuspid (a1), and the second upper molar (M2). Overall, the molecular and the morphological evidences supported that the genus Nectogale consists of two valid species: N. elegans and N. sikhimensis. We recover species status of Nectogale sikhimensis using molecular and morphometric analyses, and the genus Nectogale consists of two valid species, N. elegans and N. sikhimensis.