Home The karyotype along with molecular data of the Iranian lineage of the bicolored shrew Crocidura leucodon (Hermann, 1780) provides evidence of the species level of C. persica Thomas, 1907
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The karyotype along with molecular data of the Iranian lineage of the bicolored shrew Crocidura leucodon (Hermann, 1780) provides evidence of the species level of C. persica Thomas, 1907

  • Hessamodin Zali ORCID logo , Sylvain Dubey ORCID logo , Malahat Dianat ORCID logo and Roohollah Siahsarvie ORCID logo EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: May 28, 2025
Mammalia
From the journal Mammalia Volume 89 Issue 4

Abstract

White-toothed shrews of the genus Crocidura represent the most speciose genus of mammals. Within this genus, Crocidura leucodon comprises four mitochondrial lineages, with the Iranian lineage being the most divergent. In this study, we report the diploid number (2N = 32) and the fundamental numbers of chromosomal arms (FN = 42, FNa = 38) for the Iranian lineage, which is different from those reported for western regions (2N = 28, FN = 56, FNa = 52). The phylogenetic analyses performed on mitochondrial cytochrome b (978 bp) of bicolored shrews confirm the previous studies showing the divergence of the Iranian samples. The Kimura’s two-parameter (K2P) genetic distances between the Iranian clade and the three lineages of western regions, based on the cytb marker, range from 5.8 % to 7.1 %, confirming that the former lineage can be considered as a separate species. The preliminary phylogenetic analysis based on three nuclear markers (ApoB, BRCA1, and vWF) does not contradict the divergence of the Iranian specimens compared to those of western regions. More specimens are needed however for a robust conclusion. Our findings verify the results of the previous studies indicating that the Iranian lineage, previously considered as subspecies C. leucodon persica, should be promoted to the species level.

Keywords: white-toothed shrews; Crocidura persica ; nuclear markers; cytochrome b; karyology
Corresponding author: Roohollah Siahsarvie, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Azadi Square, Mashhad, 9177948974, Iran; and Rodentology Research Department, Institute of Applied Zoology, Faculty of Science, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Azadi Square, Mashhad, 9177948974, Iran, E-mail:

Funding source: Ferdowsi University of Mashhad

Award Identifier / Grant number: 56312

Acknowledgments

We would like to express our gratitude to Fatemeh Javdani Ashkbar, and Mahdi Hatami for their help during field expeditions. The anonymous referee is acknowledged for worthy and constructive comments. We also wish to thank Seyed Yahya Tarahomi for his help in editing figures.

  1. Research ethics: This study was conducted in accordance with ethical principles and national standards for the humane treatment of animals in research. All procedures involving the live-trapping and handling of small mammals were reviewed and approved a priori by the Research Ethics Committee of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad (registration no. IR.UM.REC.1400.300). Fieldwork adhered to national regulations governing wildlife research in Iran and followed internationally recognized standards for animal welfare, including minimizing stress, injury, and handling time. Live traps were checked regularly to ensure animal welfare. Euthanasia was performed only on a limited number of individuals (n = 4) via CO2 inhalation, in strict accordance with guidelines from Iran National Committee for Ethics in Biomedical Research. All procedures were conducted by trained personnel to ensure minimal suffering.

  2. Informed consent: Not applicable.

  3. Author contributions: All authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this manuscript and approved its submission. Hessamodin Zali: investigation, conceptualization, writing, original draft preparation. Sylvain Dubey: writing, review and edition. Malahat Dianat: writing, review and edition. Roohollah Siahsarvie: investigation, original draft preparation, writing, review and edition.

  4. Use of Large Language Models, AI and Machine Learning Tools: None declared.

  5. Conflict of interest: The authors state no conflict of interest.

  6. Research funding: This study was financially supported by grant no. 56312 from Ferdowsi University of Mashhad.

  7. Data availability: All genetic data are publicly available at GenBank www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.

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Supplementary Material

This article contains supplementary material (https://doi.org/10.1515/mammalia-2024-0111).

Received: 2024-07-28
Accepted: 2025-03-28
Published Online: 2025-05-28
Published in Print: 2025-07-28

© 2025 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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https://doi.org/10.1515/mammalia-2024-0111
Keywords for this article
white-toothed shrews; Crocidura persica; nuclear markers; cytochrome b; karyology

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Ecology
  3. Habitat suitability and potential landscape corridors for South China sika deer (Cervus pseudaxis)
  4. Environmental and landscape changes drive medium- to large-bodied mammal species composition across an Amazon-Cerrado ecotone amid the deforestation expansion
  5. Comparison of the assemblage of medium and large mammals in two sites with differences in human access and environmental conditions in the south of the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico
  6. Systematic camera trapping survey of mammals in Ngoc Linh Nature Reserve, Quang Nam, Vietnam
  7. Opportunistic predation of bats by Cerdocyon thous in a Brazilian urban fragment
  8. First scientific observation of the largest Sahulian rodent, Mallomys istapantap, in the wild
  9. Ethology
  10. Latrine ecology of a solitary ungulate, the Japanese serow: female–male communication site rather than territorial marking?
  11. Biogeography
  12. First record of Murina walstoni (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) outside Southeast Asia
  13. Taxonomy/Phylogeny
  14. A new species of Cryptotis (Eulipotyphla: Soricidae) and introduction to the systematics of the Ecuadorian and Peruvian Cryptotis species
  15. The karyotype along with molecular data of the Iranian lineage of the bicolored shrew Crocidura leucodon (Hermann, 1780) provides evidence of the species level of C. persica Thomas, 1907
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