Integrative taxonomy resolves a new West African Crocidura (Mammalia: Soricidae) species, cryptic to Crocidura grandiceps in color, but distinct in size
Abstract
High species richness in tropical West Africa has been demonstrated for many species groups, among which shrews are no exception. Within the Crocidura poensis species complex, six species are currently described and recognized in West Africa, but a recent study suggested the existence of an additional cryptic species based on dorsal skull morphology. Here, an integrative approach combining the complete mitochondrial genome, eight nuclear markers, external morphology and geometric morphometrics methods on the skull and mandible of the C. poensis species complex distributed across West Africa is used to test the validity of the new candidate species. Species delimitation analyses performed separately on nuclear and mitochondrial DNA support the existence of seven species. Despite low genetic distance with its closest relative, the new species can be distinguished by several diagnostic nucleotide characters using cytochrome b sequences, by morphometric analyses on the skull and mandible as well as traditional external measurements. This allowed us to describe the new species as Crocidura pediculus Voet, Cornette & Nicolas sp. nov.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Inessa Voet, Arnaud Delapre, Christiane Denys, Aude Lalis, Raphaël Cornette, Violaine Nicolas
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