Genetic differentiation of the lesser white-toothed shrew, Crocidura suaveolens (Pallas, 1811) inferred from cytb sequences and morphometric in the refuges of the central Iran

Several specimens of the lesser white-toothed shrew, Crocidura suaveolens, (Pallas, 1811) were investigated using mitochondrial cytochrome b gene (cytb) and morphometric from different localities of Iranian Plateau. Phylogenetic tree reconstruction using the Bayesian Inference analysis (BI) revealed high genetic diversity into four well-supported clades including two main clades: the first clade included northern populations of Iran and the second one included the populations from central and northwest of Iran. The Central population forms an isolated subclade. Basal status of the central subclade in phylogenetic tree, high genetic diversity, fairly high amount of K2P genetic distance (greater than 4 percent) in comparison with other clades as well as lack of shared haplotypes supports the presence of differentiated lineage in the central Iran. It seems that, the recent central population has been originated from an ancestral relict population and the Pleistocene climatic oscillations have resulted in its isolation from other populations and subsequent divergence into the new lineage.