Description of a new endemic species of shrew (Mammalia, Soricomorpha) from PrÍncipe Island (Gulf of Guinea)

Luis M.P. Ceríaco (1) , Mariana P. Marques (2) , François Jacquet (3) , Violaine Nicolas (3) , Marc Colyn (4, 5) , Christiane Denys (3) , Patrícia C. Sardinha (6) , Cristiane Bastos-Silveira

1 Department of Vertebrate Zoology and Anthropology
2 Departamento de Biologia
3 ISYEB - Institut de Systématique, Evolution, Biodiversité
4 ECOBIO - Ecosystèmes, biodiversité, évolution [Rennes]
5 OSUR - Station Biologique de Paimpont CNRS UMR 6653
6 Museu Nacional de Historia Natural e da Ciencia

São Tomé and Príncipe are unique islands off the Gulf of Guinea on account of the high degree of endemism in these areas due to isolation. These islands are known to harbor, among others, two species of shrews of the genus Crocidura : C . thomensis, endemic to São Tomé ; and C. poensis, found on Pr í ncipe and common in central Africa. Owing to the uncertainty surrounding the taxonomic status of the population of C. poensis from Príncipe Island, we conducted morphometric and molecular analyses of newly collected specimens and compared them against São Tomé and mainland African specimens. Our results show that the shrew population from Príncipe Island is a separate species: Crocidura fingui sp. nov.

Keywords: Crocidurinae; morphometry mtDNA; São Tomé e Príncipe; skull; speciation; taxonomy

Domains: Environmental Sciences; Biodiversity and Ecology

Luis M.P. Ceríaco, Mariana P. Marques, François Jacquet, Violaine Nicolas, Marc Colyn, et al.. Description of a new endemic species of shrew (Mammalia, Soricomorpha) from PrÍncipe Island (Gulf of Guinea). Mammalia, 2015, 79 (3), pp.325-341. ⟨10.1515/mammalia-2014-0056⟩. ⟨hal-01153803⟩