We sequenced 998 base pairs (bp) of mitochondrial DNA cytochrome b and 799 bp of nuclear gene BRCA1 in the Lesser white-toothed shrew (Crocidura suaveolens group) over its geographic range from Portugal to Japan. The aims of the study were to identify the main clades within the group and respective refugia resulting from Pleistocene glaciations. Analyses revealed the Asian lesser white-toothed shrew (C. shantungensis) as the basal clade, followed by a major branch of C. suaveolens, subdivided sensu stricto into six clades, which split-up in the Upper Pliocene and Lower Pleistocene (1.9-0.9 Myr). The largest clade, occurring over a huge range from east Europe to Mongolia, shows evidence of population expansion after a bottleneck. West European clades originated from Iberian and Italo-Balkanic refugia. In the Near East, three clades evolved in an apparent hotspot of refugia (west Turkey, south-west and south-east of the Caucasus). Most clades include specimens of diVerent morphotypes and the validity of many taxa in the C. suaveolens group has to be re-evaluated. 

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The variability of five mandibular characters of the long-tailed shrews of the genus Sorex (the position of mental foramen, the structure of mandibular/postmandibular foramina complex, the structure of condyloid process, the pattern of pigmentation of the first lower incisor i1, and the color of tooth pigment) was examined. It is shown that each of these features is characterized by a specific level of variation. It should take into account in identifying and in the formulation of taxonomic hypotheses. On the basis of the obtained data the assumption of a specific taxonomic position of S. trowbridgii and S. mirabilis in relation to the traditionally recognized subgenera Sorex and Otisorex was made.

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Despite obvious advances in systematic research on Palaearctic white-toothed shrews ( Crocidura ), phylogenetic relationships and species diagnosis of 40-chromosome species ( suaveolens sp. group) remain poorly understood. Phylogenetic relationships of these shrews were analyzed on the basis of two independent molecular markers: interspersed repeat PCR fingerprints (inter-SINE-PCR) and complete (1140 bp) or partial (∼400 bp) sequences of the mtDNA cyt b gene. According to these data, C. suaveolens from Western Europe (Italy) appeared distinct from samples of C. suaveolens from Eastern Europe and Mongolia, as well as a Siberian sample. mtDNA introgression of Eastern European C. suaveolens with C. gueldenstaedtii in their contact zone in the Tuapse region was revealed. Hybrydization between C. gueldenstaedtii and C. suaveolens resulted in the formation of a population, nuclear DNA and morphological characteristics typical for C. gueldenstaedtii , while the mitochondrial genome is assimilated from C. suaveolens . The population of the Talysh region of the Caucasus ( C. caspica ) represents a separate entity that is clearly distinguished from the populations of Georgia and Tuapse ( C. gueldenstaedtii ) and C. suaveolens . Therefore, the position of C. caspica as a full species is supported. The present analysis of both inter-SINE-PCR and cyt b sequence data revealed two major clades in Palaearctic 40-chromosome Crocidura . The eastern clade is formed by true C. suaveolens/C. sibirica , together with C. caspica , and the western clade is formed by Western European C. suaveolens , which should be treated as a distinct species, C. mimula and the closely related C. gueldenstaedtii.