Description of a new endemic species of shrew (Mammalia, Soricomorpha) from PrÍncipe Island (Gulf of Guinea)
Résumé
São Tomé and Príncipe are unique islands off the Gulf of Guinea on account of the high degree of endemism in these areas due to isolation. These islands are known to harbor, among others, two species of shrews of the genus Crocidura : C . thomensis, endemic to São Tomé ; and C. poensis, found on Pr í ncipe and common in central Africa. Owing to the uncertainty surrounding the taxonomic status of the population of C. poensis from Príncipe Island, we conducted morphometric and molecular analyses of newly collected specimens and compared them against São Tomé and mainland African specimens. Our results show that the shrew population from Príncipe Island is a separate species: Crocidura fingui
sp. nov.