现生鼩鼹（shrew-like moles）栖息在中国西南的横断山系及周边地区，是鼹科中最原始的一支。由于形态上的保守性和野外采样的难度，有关该类群生物系统学的研究仍十分有限。另外，现生鼩鼹的分布区是全球最重要的生物多样性热点地区之一。中新世以来的全球气候变化和频繁的地质运动造就了这一区域复杂的地理景观，极大塑造了特有类群的遗传格局。然而，该地区生物多样性的发生机制仍存在一定争议。因此，通过分子系统发育手段研究现生鼩鼹可以有效地联系起生物和地区两大模式系统，意义重大。
最新一期的BMC Evolutionary Biology杂志刊登了中科院昆明动物研究所蒋学龙研究组的近期成果Multilocus phylogeny and cryptic diversity in Asian shrew-like moles (Uropsilus， Talpidae)： implications for taxonomy and conservation。该研究第一次通过分子系统发育方法解决了鼩鼹亚科现生类群长期遗留的问题。通过对2个线粒体基因和8个核基因序列进行分析，构建了采自不同地区的鼩鼹样品的系统发育关系，并基于化石和分子校正点估算了物种分歧时间。
研究结果显示，现生鼩鼹的物种分化时间（6.32-0.82Ma）与中新世以来的气候变化和造山运动有强烈的对应关系，而目前主要的pre-Pleistocene speciation假说和Pleistocene speciation pump假说都不能较好地解释这一物种分化模式。与基因树的结果基本一致，基于溯祖理论模型（Coalescent model）构建的物种树认为目前认可的5个物种代表了10个进化上独立的支系，提示该类群的生物多样性被严重地低估。因为这些独立进化的支系（有效种）大都分布狭域，文章还从保护遗传学的角度建议它们的保护等级亟待提高。
该研究得到了国家自然基金（31301869，31272276）、中科院知识创新计划（KSZD-EW-2-011）和遗传资源与进化国家重点实验室（GREKF11-03）的资助。博士研究生万韬和助理研究员何锴为本文的共同第一作者。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推荐的英文摘要
BMC Evolutionary Biology doi:10.1186/1471-2148-13-232
Multilocus phylogeny and cryptic diversity in Asian shrew-like moles (Uropsilus， Talpidae)： implications for taxonomy and conservation
Tao Wan12， Kai He13 and Xue-Long Jiang1*
Background
The genus Uropsilus comprises a group of terrestrial， montane mammals endemic to the Hengduan and adjacent mountains. These animals are the most primitive living talpids. The taxonomy has been primarily based on cursory morphological comparisons and the evolutionary affinities are little known. To provide insight into the systematics of this group， we estimated the first multi-locus phylogeny and conducted species delimitation， including taxon sampling throughout their distribution range.
Results
We obtained two mitochondrial genes (~1， 985 bp) and eight nuclear genes (~4， 345 bp) from 56 specimens. Ten distinct evolutionary lineages were recovered from the three recognized species， eight of which were recognized as species/putative species. Five of these putative species were found to be masquerading as the gracile shrew mole. The divergence time estimation results indicated that climate change since the last Miocene and the uplift of the Himalayas may have resulted in the diversification and speciation of Uropsilus.
Conclusions
The cryptic diversity found in this study indicated that the number of species is strongly underestimated under the current taxonomy. Two synonyms of gracilis (atronates and nivatus) should be given full species status， and the taxonomic status of another three potential species should be evaluated using extensive taxon sampling， comprehensive morphological， and morphometric approaches. Consequently， the conservation status of Uropsilus spp. should also be re-evaluated， as most of the species/potential species have very limited distribution.
