Holocene biogeography of the southwestern European white-toothed shrew (Crocidura iculisma, Eulipotyphla) through its fossil record

Abstract

Crocidura iculisma (=C. suaveolens) is a shrew (Soricidae, Eulipotyphla) showing a fragmented distribution limited to the Iberian Peninsula, southern and western France and northwestern Italy. Although it has been in the Iberian Peninsula since the Middle Pleistocene, its biogeographical history remains poorly known. Here, we provide new data on Crocidura iculisma from the Castillejo del Bonete site (southern Spain) dated as 3.8–3.6 cal kyr BP. At the same time, we analyse changes in its geographic distribution based on its palaeontological record. We have reviewed thoroughly the Holocene record of Crocidura iculisma in southwestern Europe, considering independently the three time intervals according to the stages defined for this geological time series (Greenlandian