Who are you, Griselda? A replacement name for a new genus of the Asiatic short-tailed shrews (Mammalia, Eulipotyphla, Soricidae): molecular and morphological analyses with the discussion of tribal affinities

Abstract

The first genetic study of the holotype of the Gansu short-tailed shrew, <i>Blarinella griselda</i> Thomas, 1912, is presented. The mitochondrial analysis demonstrated that the type specimen of <i>B. griselda</i> is close to several recently collected specimens from southern Gansu, northern Sichuan and Shaanxi, which are highly distinct from the two species of Asiatic short-tailed shrews of southern Sichuan, Yunnan, and Vietnam, <i>B. quadraticauda</i> and <i>B. wardi</i>. Our analysis of four nuclear genes supported the placement of <i>B. griselda</i> as sister to <i>B. quadraticauda</i> / <i>B. wardi</i>, with the level of divergence between these two clades corresponding to that among genera of Soricinae. A new generic name, <i>Parablarinella</i>, is proposed for the Gansu short-tailed shrew. Karyotypes of <i>Parablarinella griselda</i> (2<i>n</i> = 49, NF<i>a</i> = 50) and <i>B. quadraticauda</i> (2<i>n</i> = 49, NF<i>a</i> = 62) from southern Gansu are described. The tribal affinities of Blarinellini and Blarinini are discussed.