Evolutionary history and biogeography of the genus Crocidura (Mammalia, Soricidae) in Europe, with emphasis on Crocidura kornfeldi

The first reliable record of Crocidura kornfeldi on the Iberian Peninsula comes from the Lower Red Unit of the site of Sima del Elefante (Sierra de Atapuerca), which corresponds to the second third of the Early Pleistocene (ca. 1.2–1.5 Ma). A full description and a morphological, morphometric and chronological comparison of the Sima del Elefante remains with those of all the species of Crocidura that have inhabited Europe from the Early Pliocene to the present is undertaken. Then we analyse such poorly-known aspects as the palaeoecology of the taxon, the possible reason for its marked intra-specific variability, and its contribution to continental biochronology. We extensively revise the evolutionary and biogeographical framework in which C. kornfeldi, the colonizing species of the European continent, and all other, subsequent crocidurines, appeared and flourished. Palaeontological data support the alternative molecular-based model to the currently prevailing paradigm that locates the origin of the genus Crocidura in western Africa. The new model shifts the origin to Asia Minor.