Complete mitochondrial genomes of Asian endemic white-toothed shrews: Crocidura armenica and C. serezkyensis (Eulipotyphla: Soricidae)

Voyta L.L., Petrova T.V., Panitsina V.A., Bodrov S.Yu., Abramson N.I.

P. 18-24

The subfamily Crocidurinae unites white-toothed shrews (Eulipotyphla: Soricidae) and is the largest group of living eulipotyphlans; among them, the genus Crocidura contains approximately half of soricids diversity. Within the Crocidura endemics of Central and West Asia, species group “pergrisea” retains relentless interest. In this context, a major question is the taxonomic position and validity of an Armenia endemic Crocidura armenica, which since 2014 has been excluded from the list of Mammal Species of the World. In this study, we obtained the complete mitochondrial genome of C. armenica from a holotype. In addition, we determined partial mitochondrial genomes of a Pamir Mountains endemic C. serezkyensis and of a white-toothed shrew with unclear taxonomic status: Crocidura cf. pergrisea from Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan. The phylogenetic analysis with the inclusion of the mitogenome sequences of the 28 species showed the closest position of C. armenica and Crocidura cf. pergrisea, with a sister position of the C. serezkyensis specimen.DOI: 10.15298/rusjtheriol.23.1.02