The Dabie Mountains shrew mole (''Uropsilus dabieshanensis'') is a species of

mammal A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three ...

in the family

Talpidae The family (biology), family Talpidae () includes the true Mole (animal), moles (as well as the shrew moles and desmans) who are small insectivore, insectivorous mammals of the order (biology), order Eulipotyphla. Talpids are all fossorial, diggi ...

and genus ''

Uropsilus The shrew moles or shrew-like moles (''Uropsilus'') are shrew-like members of Talpidae, the mole family of mammals endemic to the forested, high-alpine region bordering China, Myanmar, and Vietnam. They possess a long snout, a long slender tail, ...

''. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

Anhui Province Anhui is an inland province located in East China. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze and Huai rivers, bordering Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the east, Jiangxi to the south, Hub ...

in China, where, as its name suggests, it is only known from the

Dabie Mountains The Dabie Mountains () are a major mountain range located in central China. Running northwest-to-southeast, they form the main watershed between the Huai River, Huai and Yangtze rivers. The range also marks the boundary between Hubei Province (n ...

. Phylogenetic evidence supports it being a sister species to a clade containing the

gracile shrew mole The gracile shrew mole (''Uropsilus gracilis'') is a species of mammal in the family Talpidae. It is endemic to China; populations known from Myanmar likely represent other species (see below). The black-backed shrew mole (''U. atronates'') a ...

(''U. gracilis''), black-backed shrew mole (''U. atronates''), and several undescribed species, with ''U. dabieshanensis'' diverging from the rest of the genus in the early

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fin ...

References

Uropsilus Mammals of China Endemic fauna of China Mammals described in 2021 Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN {{Talpidae-stub