Sengis (Macroscelidea) are members of the Afroinsectivora, a group of mammals belonging to the supercohort Afrotheria. Sengis’ low population densities and their distribution, which includes politically unstable regions with ongoing armed conflicts, hinder contemporary sampling of comprehensive datasets. We overcome this obstacle for the species Petrodromus tetradactylus, one of the most widely distributed sengi species, by utilizing 44 historical museum samples from multiple natural history museums. These historical samples were combined with newly generated or published data of 11 modern samples, thus creating a dataset of 55 P. tetradactylus individuals covering most of the species’ distribution. Phylogenetic reconstruction with 11 nuclear loci in conjunction with mostly complete mitochondrial genomes reveals multiple deeply divergent and formerly unknown lineages within this monotypic genus, highlighting the need for a taxonomic revision. Furthermore, we can show that the assumed allopatric distribution of P. tetradactylus in Central Africa most likely represents a sampling artifact. Biogeographic character mapping indicates that the African forest system and its dynamics through climate fluctuations shaped the evolutionary and biogeographic history of this taxon. We show that lineages within Petrodromus that were able to adapt to dryer woodland ecosystems are much more widely distributed than lineages restricted to moist forest systems. The evolution and radiation of the four-toed sengi (P. tetradactylus) mirrors the patterns of its distant relative, the giant sengis (Rhynchocyon) in both ecotype variation and overall distribution, implying a significant influence of climate and landscape features in shaping diversification.

中文翻译：

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四趾 sengi（Petrodromus tetradactylus、Afrotheria、Mammalia）博物馆组学揭示了东非森林在宏观物种多样化中的关键作用


Sengis（Macroscelidea）是非洲食虫目（Afroinsectivora）的成员，非洲食虫目是属于非洲兽亚目超级群体的一组哺乳动物。圣吉斯人口密度低及其分布（其中包括政治不稳定且武装冲突持续的地区）阻碍了综合数据集的当代采样。我们利用来自多个自然历史博物馆的 44 个历史博物馆样本，克服了分布最广泛的 sengi 物种之一 Petrodromus tetradactylus 的这一障碍。这些历史样本与新生成或发布的 11 个现代样本的数据相结合，从而创建了一个包含 55 个 P. tetradactylus 个体的数据集，涵盖了该物种的大部分分布。通过 11 个核位点和大部分完整的线粒体基因组进行系统发育重建，揭示了这个单型属中存在多个深度分歧且以前未知的谱系，强调了分类学修订的必要性。此外，我们可以表明，假定的中非 P. tetradactylus 的异域分布很可能代表了抽样伪影。生物地理特征图表明，非洲森林系统及其通过气候波动的动态塑造了该分类单元的进化和生物地理历史。我们表明，能够适应干燥林地生态系统的彼得罗莫斯内的谱系比仅限于潮湿森林系统的谱系分布更广泛。四趾蟾蜍 (P. tetradactylus) 的进化和辐射反映了其远亲巨型蟾蜍 (Rhynchocyon) 在生态型变异和总体分布方面的模式，这意味着气候和景观特征对形成多样化具有重大影响。