A revision of the white-toothed shrews (Crocidura) of Southern China

Abstract

Many systematic relationships among Chinese white-toothed shrews of genus Crocidura are presently unresolved. In this paper, a taxonomic revision of Crocidura from Southern China is presented. We studied 338 specimens from Burma, China, Korea, Pakistan, Turkey, Middle and Central Asia, and Russia (Appendix I), 285 of which had complete skulls that were analyzed with principal component and discriminant analyses. Results indicated that 6 species of Crocidura can be recognized in South China. C. fuliginosa occurs in Southwestern and Eastern China, C. attenuata is broadly distributed throughout Southern China, and C. horsfieldii is restricted to the southern part of China. C. vorax and C. rapax, usually placed as synonyms of the European C. russula, are recognized as 2 valid species whose ranges overlap in Southwestern China. C. shantungensis of Eastern Asia extends to the northern part of Southern China and is distinct from C. suaveolens and C. gmelini of Middle and Central Asia, respectively.