Geographic variation in the Japanese white-toothed shrewCrocidura dsinezumi

Abstract

I investigated geographic variation in the Japanese white-toothed shrewCrocidura dsinezumi (Temminck, 1842) (Insectivora, Soricidae) from the Japanese Archipelago and the northern part of the Ryukyu Archipelago. Univariate and multivariate analyses were conducted based on 11 cranial measurements from 14 sampling localities. Overall size variation seemed to follow clinal changes correlated with latitude and longitude of localities, such that northeastern populations were smaller than southwestern ones. The Hokkaido population and the Kuchinoerabujima population were larger than expected based on estimated values, likely due to changes reflecting environmental factors. In contrast, the Tanegashima population was smaller than its estimated value. The northern Ryukyu populations were divergent from the Kyushu population and from each other. Based on patterns of geographic variation, I suggest that all previously described subspecies ofC. dsinezumi are junior synonyms ofC. dsinezumi; and that the Kuchinoerabujima population and the Nakanoshima population likely represent un- described subspecies.