Spatial distribution and conservation implications of the type localities of mammals in China

GE Deyan; WEN Zhixin; LI Rui; LIU Qitao; YANG Qisen

doi:10.16829/j.slxb.150984

ACTA THERIOLOGICA SINICA >

2025 , Vol. 45 >Issue 1: 17 - 27

DOI: https://doi.org/10.16829/j.slxb.150984

ORIGINAL PAPERS

Spatial distribution and conservation implications of the type localities of mammals in China

GE Deyan ,
WEN Zhixin ,
LI Rui ,
LIU Qitao ,
YANG Qisen

Expand

1 Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China;
2 Xinjiang Key Laboratory of Biological Resources and Genetic Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology, Xinjiang Univer- sity, Urumqi 830046, China;
3 College of Life Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China

Received date: 2024-07-19

Revised date: 2024-12-25

Online published: 2025-01-23

Fold

Abstract

The type locality of a species refers to the geographical location where the specimen was firstly collected and described. In biological taxonomy, phylogenetic reconstruction, and evolutionary studies, samples from the type locality are considered more reliable taxonomically and can better represent the current evolutionary state of the species compared to other geographic populations. Moreover, these samples are also important in research across various fields of biological science and in the preservation of genomic resources. Based on the analysis of the spatial distribution density and changes in the areas where type localities of valid species of extant mammals in China were discovered in different historical periods, this article collected the coordinate information on type localities for all of these valid species. The results show that approximately 42% of the valid species of extant mammals in China have their original type localities within the country. The Himalaya mountains, Hengduan Mountains, and Taiwan are regions where type localities of extant mammals in China are highly concentrated, with over 54% of the species (over 170 species) distributed in these areas. Analysis of the density of type localities of mammals discovered in different historical periods reveals that most species described in the early history were not within China. This is related to the development of taxonomy in Europe after the introduction of Linnaeus’s binomial nomenclature, as well as to the broader distribution of these species. The Himalayan Mountains, the Hengduan Mountains, and Taiwan have been areas where new species have been more concentratedly discovered since 1800, which is related to the presence of a large number of endemic and narrowly distributed species in these areas. Focusing on the regions where topotypes of extant mammals are concentrated and accelerating the collection and preservation of type specimens and high-quality genetic resources are of great significance for the protection and research of biodiversity in China, as well as for the training of the next generation of taxonomists.

Key words： Mammalian; Type locality; Spatial distribution; Genomic resources

Cite this article

GE Deyan , WEN Zhixin , LI Rui , LIU Qitao , YANG Qisen . Spatial distribution and conservation implications of the type localities of mammals in China[J]. ACTA THERIOLOGICA SINICA, 2025 , 45(1) : 17 -27 . DOI: 10.16829/j.slxb.150984

References

Allen G M. 1938. The Mammals of China and Mongolia. New York:American Museum of Natural History.
Bell R C, Mulcahy D G, Gotte S W, Maley A J, Mendoza C, Steffensen G, Barron I J C, Hyman O, Flint W, Wynn A, Mcdiarmid R W, Mcleod D S. 2020. The Type Locality Project:collecting genomic-quality, topotypic vouchers and training the next genera-tion of specimen-based researchers. Systematics and Biodiver-sity, 18 (6):557-572.
Burgin C J, Colella J P, Kahn P L, Upham N S. 2018. How many spe-cies of mammals are there? Journal of Mammalogy, 99:1-14.
Feijó A, Ge D Y, Wen Z X, Cheng J L, Xia L, Patterson B D, Yang Q S. 2022. Mammalian diversification bursts and biotic turnovers are synchronous with Cenozoic geoclimatic events in Asia. Pro-ceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 119. DOI:10.1073/pnas.2207845119.
Fricke E C, Svenning J C. 2020. Accelerating homogenization of the global plant-frugivore meta-network. Nature, 585:74-78.
Fu J Z, Wen L Y. 2023. Impacts of Quaternary glaciation, geological history and geography on animal species history in continental East Asia:a phylogeographic review. Molecular Ecology, 32:4497-4514.
Ge D Y, Feijo A, Abramov A, Wen Z X, Liu Z J, Cheng J L, Xia L, Lu L, Yang Q S. 2020. Molecular phylogeny and morphological di-versity of the Niviventer fulvescens species complex with empha-sis on species from China. Zoological Journal of Linnean Soci-aty, 191 (2):528-547.
Ge D Y, Feijo A, Cheng J L, Lu L, Liu R R, Abramov A V, Xia L, Wen Z X, Zhang W Y, Shi L, Yang Q S. 2019. Evolutionary history of field mice (Murinae:Apodemus), with emphasis on morphological variation among species in China and description of a new spe-cies. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 187 (2):518-534.
Genoways H, Schlitter D. 1985. Survey of the recent mammal collec-tions of the world. Acta Zoologica Fennica, 170:41-42.
Hewitt G M. 2000. The genetic legacy of the quaternary ice ages. Na-ture, 405 (6789):907-913.
Holl K D, Luong J C, Brancalion P H S. 2022. Overcoming biotic ho-mogenization in ecological restoration. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 37:777-788.
Hu Y B, Fan H Z, Chen Y H, Chang J, Zhan X J, Wu H, Zhang B W, Wang M, Zhang W Y, Yang L, Hou X, Shen X, Pan T, Wu W, Li J, Hu H H, Wei F W. 2021. Spatial patterns and conservation of ge-netic and phylogenetic diversity of wildlife in China. Science Ad-vances, 7. DOI:10.1126/sciadv.abd5725.
Isbell F, Balvanera P, Mori A S, He J S, Bullock J M, Regmi G R, Sea-bloom E W, Ferrier S, Sala O E, Guerrero-Ramírez N R, et al. 2023. Expert perspectives on global biodiversity loss and its driv-ers and impacts on people. Frontiers in Ecology and Enviroment, 21 (2):94-103.
IUCN Standards and Petitions Committee. 2024. Guidelines for Us-ing the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria. Version 16.
Jiang X l, Hoffmann R S. 2001. A revision of the white-toothed shrews (Crocidura) of southern China. Journal of Mammalogy, 82 (4):1059-1079.
Lawniczak M K N, Durbin R, Flicek P, Lindblad-Toh K, Wei X, Ar-chibald J M, Baker W J, Belov K, Blaxter M L, Marques Bonet T, et al. 2022. Standards recommendations for the Earth BioGe-nome Project. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 119. DOI:10.1073/pnas.2115639118.
León-Álvarez D, Núñez-Resendiz M L, Wynne M J. 2014. Morpho-logical and molecular studies on topotype material of Neoralfsia expansa (Phaeophyceae) reveal that Asian specimens assigned to this taxon are genetically distinct. Botanica Marina, 57:351-358.
Li B, Pimm S. 2015. China's endemic vertebrates sheltering under the protective umbrella of the giant panda. Conservation Biology, 30 (2):329-339.
Lisbet K. 1999. Linnaeus:Nature and Nation. Harvard:Harvard Uni-versity Press.
Liu S, Zhou C, Meng G, Wan T, Tang M, Yang C, Murphy RW, Fan Z, Liu Y, Zeng T, Zhao Y, Liu S L. 2022. Evolution and diversifica-tion of Mountain voles (Rodentia:Cricetidae). Communications Biology, 5 (1):1417.
Liu S Y, Jin W, Liao R, Sun Z Y, Zeng T, Fu J R, Liu Y, Wang X, Li P F, Tang M K, Chen L M, Dong L, Han M D, Gou D. 2017. Phylo-genetic study of Ochotona based on mitochondrial Cyt b and mor-phology with a description of one new subgenus and five new spe-cies. Acta Theriologica Sinica, 37 (1):1-43. (in Chinese)
López J L, García Bañuelos P, Pineda E, Rovito S. 2019. Thorius narismagnus (Amphibia:Plethodontidae):rediscovery at the type locality and detection of a new population. Amphibian and Rep-tile Conservation, 13:126-132.
Lorenzo C, Bolaños-Citalán J E, Retana-Guiascón O G. 2020. Redis-covery of Heteromys nelsoni in its type locality after over a cen-tury. Mammalia, 84 (1):6-9.
Mi X, Feng G, Hu Y, Zhang J, Chen L, Corlett R T, Hughes A C, Pimm S, Schmid B, Shi S, Svenning J C, Ma K P. 2021. The global sig-nificance of biodiversity science in China:an overview. National Science Review, 8. DOI:10.1093/nsr/nwab032nwab032.
Myers N, Mittermeier R, Mittermeier C, da Fonseca A B G, Kent J. 2000. Biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities. Nature, 403:853-858.
Pu Y T, Wan T, Fan R H, Fu C K, Tang K Y, Jiang X L, Zhang B W, Hu T L, Chen S D, Liu S Y. 2022. A new species of the genus Typh-lomys Milne-Edwards, 1877 (Rodentia:Platacanthomyidae) from Chongqing, China. Zoological Research, 43 (3):413-417.
Senior R, Bagwyn R, Leng D, Killion A, Jetz W, Wilcove D. 2024.
Global shortfalls in documented actions to conserve biodiversity.
Nature, 630 (8016):38-391.
Sluys R. 2021. Attaching names to biological species:the use and value of type specimens in systematic zoology and natural history collections. Biological Theory, 16:49-61.
Sokoloff D D, Balandin S A, Gubanov I A, Jarvis C E, Majorov S R, Simonov S S. 2002. The history of botany in Moscow and Rus-sia in the 18th and early 19th centuries in the context of the Lin-naean Collection at Moscow University (MW). Huntia, 11 (2):129-191.
Thomas O. 1905. The Duke of Bedford's Zoological Exploration in Eastern Asia. I. List of mammals obtained by Mr. M. P. Ander-son in Japan. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 1905:331-363.
Thomas O. 1908a. The Duke of Bedford's zoological exploration in Eastern Asia:vi. List of Mammals from the Shantung Peninsula, N. China. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 1908:5-10.
Thomas O. 1908b. The Duke of Bedford's zoological exploration in Eastern Asia:x. List of Mammals from the Provinces of Chih-li and Shan-si, N. China. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 1908:635-646.
Thomas O. 1911. The Duke of Bedford's zoological exploration of Eastern Asia; xiv. On Mammals from Southern Shen-si, Central China. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 1911:687-695.
Thomas O. 1913. The Duke of Bedford's zoological exploration of Eastern Asia-xv. On Mammals from the provinces of Szechwan and Yunnan, Western China. Proceedings of the Zoological Soci-ety of London, 1912:127-141.
Wei F W, Yang Q S, Wu Y, Jiang X L, Liu S Y, Li B G, Yang G, Li M, Zhou J, Li S, Hu Y B, Ge D Y, Li S, Yu W H, Chen B Y, Zhang Z J, Zhou C Q, Wu S B, Zhang L, Chen Z Z, Chen S D, Deng H Q, Jiang T L, Zhang L B, Shi H Y, Lu X L, Li Q, Liu Z, Cui Y Q, Li Y C. 2021. Catalogue of mammals in China (2021). Acta Therio-logica Sinica, 41 (5):487-501. (in Chinese)
Wei F W, Yang Q S, Wu Y, Jiang X L, Liu S Y. 2022. Taxonomy and Distribution of Mammals in China. Beijing:Science Press. (in Chinese)
Wei F W, Yang Q S, Wu Y, Jiang X L, Liu S Y, Hu Y B, Ge D Y, Li B G, Yang G, Li M, Zhou J, Li S, Li S, Yu W H, Chen B Y, Zhang Z J, Zhou C Q, Wu S B, Zhang L, Chen Z Z, Chen S D, Deng H Q, Jiang T L, Zhang L B, Shi H Y, Lu X L, Li Q, Liu Z, Cui Y Q, Li Y C, Hei K. 2025. Catalogue of mammals in China (2024). Acta Theriologica Sinica, 45 (1):1-16. (in Chinese)
Wong P B, Wiley E O, Johnson W E, Ryder O A, O'Brien S J, Haussler D, Koepfli K P, Houck M L, Perelman P, Mastromonaco G, et al. 2012. Tissue sampling methods and standards for verte-brate genomics. Gigascience, 1:8.
Zhao S, Wang X, Li B V, Dou L, Liu Y, Yang S, Fan R, Jiang Y, Li Q, Liao R, et al. 2023. Molecular phylogeny and taxonomy of the genus Vernaya (Mammalia:Rodentia:Muridae) with the descrip-tion of two new species. Ecology and Evolution, 13. DOI:10.1002/ece3.10628.
Zhong W L, Zhang X, Wu Y, Jiang X L, Shi H Y, Li F, Chen B C, Zhou Q, Yu W H. 2021. Discovery of Murina chrysochaetes outside its type locality:new records from Guangdong, Yunnan and Sich-uan Provinces, China. Sichuan Journal of Zoology, 40 (6):702-709. (in Chinese)
刘少英, 靳伟, 廖锐, 孙治宇, 曾涛, 符建荣, 刘洋, 王新, 李盼峰, 唐明坤, 谌利民, 董立, 韩明德, 苟丹. 2017. 基于 Cyt b 基因和形态学的鼠兔属系统发育研究及鼠兔属 1 新亚属 5 新种描述. 兽类学报, 37 (1):1-43.
陈宜瑜. 2019. "战略生物资源的保护与利用"专题序言. 中国科学院院刊, 34:1343-1344.
钟韦凌, 张欣, 吴毅, 蒋学龙, 石红艳, 李锋, 陈伯承, 周全, 余文华. 2021. 金毛管鼻蝠在我国模式产地外的再发现:广东、云南和四川新记录. 四川动物, 40 (6):702-709.
魏辅文, 杨奇森, 吴毅, 蒋学龙, 刘少英, 李保国, 杨光, 李明, 周江, 李松, 胡义波, 葛德燕, 李晟, 余文华, 陈炳耀, 张泽钧, 周材权, 吴诗宝, 张立, 陈中正, 陈顺德, 邓怀庆, 江廷磊, 张礼标, 石红艳, 卢学理, 李权, 刘铸, 崔雅倩, 李玉春. 2021. 中国兽类名录(2021 版). 兽类学报, 41 (5):487-501.
魏辅文, 杨奇森, 吴毅, 蒋学龙, 刘少英. 2022. 中国兽类分类与分布. 北京:科学出版社.
魏辅文, 杨奇森, 吴毅, 蒋学龙, 刘少英, 胡义波, 葛德燕, 李保国, 杨光, 李明, 周江, 李松, 李晟, 余文华, 陈炳耀, 张泽钧, 周材权, 吴诗宝, 张立, 陈中正, 陈顺德, 邓怀庆, 江廷磊, 张礼标, 石红艳, 卢学理, 李权, 刘铸, 崔雅倩, 李玉春, 何锴. 2025. 中国兽类名录 (2024 版). 兽类学报, 45 (1):1-16.

Options

Outlines

模态框（Modal）标题

Abstract

Cite this article

References