SRA

A survey of small mammals on Mt. Mantalingahan (2,086 m elevation), southern Palawan Island, Philippines, in 2007 obtained specimens of a distinctive, previously unknown shrew (Soricidae). We describe these specimens as representing a new monotypic genus and species. The new species was common on Mt. Mantalingahan from 1,550 m to 1,950 m (near the peak), but was not detected from 700 to 1,300 m elevation. The previously known native, syntopic shrew, Crocidura palawanensis, has a slender body, slender fore- and hind feet, and a long, thin tail with a few long bristles. In contrast, the new species has a stout body, broad forefeet, long claws, and a short tail covered by short, dense fur and no bristles. The dental formula traditionally used would result in assignment of the new species to Suncus, but several distinctive external and cranial features are present, and a phylogenetic analysis of thousands of ultraconserved elements suggests the new species is sister to most other Crocidurinae, a clade represented throughout SE Asia but numerically dominated by African species. The new species is a distant relative of Suncus murinus (the type species of Suncus) and all other known SE Asian species. A time-calibrated phylogenetic analysis estimates divergence between the new species and its closest known relatives at approximately 10 Ma.