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A new species of Uropsilus (Talpidae: Uropsilinae) from Sichuan, China

Journal article published in 2013 by Yang Liu, Shao-Ying Liu, Zhi-Yu Sun, Peng Guo, Zhen-Xin Fan, Robert W. Murphy
This paper is available in a repository.
This paper is available in a repository.

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Abstract

We collected a group of shrew moles from Puge County, Meigu County, Luding County, and Jiulong County, southwestern Sichuan, China. Morphologically, they were similar to other species of shrew moles in possessing the following suite of characteristics: body shrew-like; snout long and thin; ear present; forefeet small and not modified for digging; long tail has rings of small scales; tip of tail with a tuft of hair appearing like a penbrush; fur long and pointing posteriorly; and skull mole-like with complete zygomatic arches. However, the new specimens differed from all other species of shrew moles in two characteristics. First, the new specimens had nine teeth in both the upper and lower toothrows. In contrast, Uropsilus soricipes had nine teeth in the upper toothrow but eight in the lower toothrow; U. gracilis, U. andersoni, and U. investigator had 10 in the upper toothrow and nine in the lower toothrow. Second, the tooth formula differed in having i2/2, c1/1, pm3/3, and m3/3=36. This differed from U. soricipes, which had i2/1, c1/1, pm3/3, and m3/3=34. It also differed from U. andersoni: i2/2, c1/1, pm4/3, and m3/3=38. Uropsilus gracilus and U. investigator had i2/1, c1/1, pm4/4, and m3/3=38. The upper toothrows of the new specimens were similar to U. soricipes. The lower toothrow was similar to U. andersoni in having two incisors with the second one being minute; U. gracilis and U. investigator had only one lower incisor. Reconstructions of the matrilineal history based on maximum likelihood, maximum parsimony, and Bayesian inference of mitochondrial cytochrome b sequences always resolved the new specimens as being the sister lineage to U. andersoni. Given the matrilineal history and differences in morphology, we described the new specimens as the species Uropsilus aequodonenia sp. nov. and suggested the English name 'Equivalent teeth Shrew Mole'.