Climate, Diversification and Refugia in the Common Shrew: Evidence from the Fossil Record

The Sorex araneus group has a rich but understudied Eurasian fossil record that spans more than two million years and stretches geographically from Britain to China. Their fossils have been found in association with mammoths, lions, hyenas, Neanderthals and even the mysterious Denisovans, people whose ancient DNA reveals them to be distinct from both Neanderthals and modern humans (Schreve, 2000; Currant and Jacobi, 2001; Agadjanian and Serdyuk, 2005; Rzebik-Kowalska, 2008). When combined with molecular phylogenetic data from extant species, the fossil record provides a broad picture of the timing and geographic context of the group’s diversification (Fig. 13.1), including the fragmentation of the range of the common shrew during glacial cycles.