Phylogeography of Bornean Shrew (Family Soricidae: Crocidura foetida) inferred from Cytochrome b Gene and Species Distribution Modeling of Three Shrews from Malaysia Using Maximum Entropy Approach

Julius, Anak William Dee (2019) Phylogeography of Bornean Shrew (Family Soricidae: Crocidura foetida) inferred from Cytochrome b Gene and Species Distribution Modeling of Three Shrews from Malaysia Using Maximum Entropy Approach. Masters thesis, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS).

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Abstract

Malaysia is known as one of the biodiversity hotspot for small mammals including shrews given the complex geological and climatic settings. Lack of studies on genus Crocidura from Southeast Asia has led to the constraint of its taxonomic assessment. The distribution of three shrew species in Malaysia has been poorly known due to limited data. This thesis aims to determine the relationship between Crocidura foetida and other Crocidura species in Southeast Asia and also to predict the distribution of species from genus Crocidura using Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) modelling. The sampling for shrew was conducted in 25 sites across Malaysia using 100 pitfall traps per site between 2014 and 2017. Thirty-two individuals of shrew from genus Crocidura were captured from 13 out of 25 sites. Crocidura foetida recorded the highest number of species captured with 28 individuals and four other individuals recorded are C. malayana. Partial cytochrome b gene sequences were analysed and reveal noticeable intra-specific divergences among C. foetida (2.2-2.8%), which were collected in Sarawak. Principal component analysis conducted on the cranio-dental measurements of 15 samples revealed no distinct grouping between localities. The phylogeny with estimation time of divergence is produced in which species in genus Crocidura are grouped into several clades. The S-Diva analysis highlights six major dispersal events among genus Crocidura. We are able to compare the phylogeography relationship of the Bornean shrew, C. foetida using mtDNA cytochrome b. Three predicted distribution models of three shrew species from Malaysia were presented. Crocidura foetida and C. monticola prefers climate with low temperature in the dense montane forest while C. malayana is distributed abundantly across Peninsular Malaysia.

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