The four Israeli shrews

The number of shrew species in Israel has been the subject of debate. We here used for the first time a molecular marker, the cytochrome b gene, to confirm the number and identity of species present in Israel. The molecular results confirm the presence of four different shrew species in Israel: Crocidura leucodon, C. suaveolens, C. ramona, and Suncus etruscus. The C. ramona sequences were found to be different from all Crocidura species sequenced to date, which supports the view that, indeed, it is a distinct species, endemic to Israel. Israeli C. suaveolens belong to the C. suaveolens gueldenstaedtii sub-species and Israeli sequences were found to be very similar to Turkish and Georgian sequences. The Israeli C. leucodon sequences however were found to form a distinct clade among C. leucodon sequences. Finally, S. etruscus sequences form around the base of the suncus tree with very short branches.