[Press Release] The house shrews’ intraspecific phylogeny suggesting a history of human activities

The house shrews, Suncus murinus–S. montanus species complex, are tiny mammals that often live in a human’s house, and thus their distributions are considered to be closely associated with a history of human activities. An international team of eight countries’ researchers that include Assist. Prof. Satoshi D. Ohdachi and Prof. Hitoshi Suzuki (Division of Biosphere Science) analyzed a mitochondrial DNA region of the house shrews captured from east African coasts to Japan, and revealed the shrews’ intraspecific phylogeny. Results from a phylogenetic tree suggest that the present distribution of the house shrews is due to past human activities such as migration and economic exchange. This research outcome is published in Mammal Study, an academic journal of the Mammal Society of Japan.

Please visit links below to view the press release (Japanese version only).
Research Press Release (PDF)