Molecular phylogeny of crocidurine shrews (Insectivora, Soricidae) in northeastern Asia was investigated to confirm the taxonomic status of unidentified specimens of Crocidura from Cheju Island, South Korea. Phylogenetic trees were constructed by neighbor-joining (NJ) and maximum likelihood (ML) methods, based on mitochondrial cytochrome b gene sequences (402 base pairs) of 37 individuals of seven crocidurine species and three unidentified specimens from 31 localities mainly in northeastern Asia. Phylogenetic position of the three unidentified specimens from Cheju Island were compared with those of Suncus murinus, C. attenuata, C. dsinezumi, C. lasiura, C. sibirica, C. suaveolens, and C. watasei. Both in NJ and ML trees, the three unidentified specimens were included in the cluster of C. dsinezumi and were obviously different from C. suaveolens on Cheju Island. Thus, the present investigation demonstrated that both C. suaveolens and C. dsinezumi exist on Cheju Island.
During a study conducted in 2002–2008 the following 6 species of shrews were recorded in the Silesian Beskid Mts. (Western Carpathians, S Poland): Sorex araneus, S. minutus, S. alpinus, Neomys fodiens, N. anomalus and Crocidura suaveolens. The most widespread was S. araneus (63.4% of locations), followed by S. alpinus (13.4%), S. minutus (12.2%), N. fodiens (7.3%), N. anomalus (2.4%) and C. suaveolens (1.2%). Among dead shrews (n=47) S. araneus comprised 56.6%, S. minutus 21.7%, S. alpinus 10.9%, C. suaveolens 4.3%, N. anomalus 4.3% and N. fodiens 2.2%. During capture with live traps only S. araneus was recorded, constituting 2.5% of all small mammals captured. It was most frequently caught in deforested areas.