Published by Associazione Teriologica Italiana Volume 28 (1): 1–8, 2017 Hystrix, the Italian Journal of Mammalogy Available online at: http://www.italian-journal-of-mammalogy.it doi:10.4404/hystrix–28.1-12015 Research Article New endemic mammal species for Europe: Sciurus meridionalis (Rodentia, Sciuridae) Lucas A. Wauters 1,∗ , Giovanni Amori 2 , Gaetano Aloise 3 , Spartaco Gippoliti 4 , Paolo Agnelli 5 , Andrea Galimberti 6 , Maurizio Casiraghi 6 , Damiano Preatoni 1 , Adriano Martinoli 1 1 Environment Analysis and Management Unit - Guido Tosi Research Group, Department of Theoretical and Applied Sciences, Università degli Studi dell’Insubria, Via J. H. Dunant 3, 21100 Varese (Italy) 2 CNR - Institute of Ecosystem Studies, c/o Department of Biology and Biotechnology “Charles Darwin”, Sapienza - Rome University, Viale dell’Università 32, 00185 Roma (Italy) 3 Museo di Storia Naturale della Calabria ed Orto Botanico, Università della Calabria, Via Savinio – Edificio Polifunzionale, 87036 Rende (CS) (Italy) 4 Società Italiana per la Storia della Fauna “G. Altobello”, Viale Liegi 48, 00198 Roma (Italy) 5 Museo di Storia Naturale, Università di Firenze, Sezione di Zoologia “La Specola”, Via Romana 17, 50125 Firenze (Italy) 6 ZooPlantLab, Dipartimento di Biotecnologie e Bioscienze, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza 2, 20126 Milano (Italy). Keywords: Sciurus meridionalis squirrels Southern Italy endemic species Article history: Received: 29 July 2016 Accepted: 17 October 2016 Acknowledgements We are grateful to Antonio Mancuso for the opportunity to use his photograph of an animal in nature (Fig. 2). Università degli Studi dell’Insubria received financial support from a PRIN 2010–2011 project (project 20108 TZKHC). Constructive comments by Colin Groves and an anonymous referee greatly helped to improve this manuscript. Abstract Combining genetic, morphological and geographical data, we re-evaluate Sciurus meridionalis, Lucifero 1907 as a tree squirrel species. The species, previously considered a subspecies of the Eurasian red squirrel, Sciurus vulgaris, is endemic to South Italy with a disjunct distribution with respect to S. vulgaris. The new species has a typical, monomorphic coat colour characterized by a white ventral fur and a very dark-brown to blackish fur on the back, sides and tail. Specimens of S. meridionalis have a larger hind foot length and weigh about 35% more than live-caught S. vulgaris from northern Italy. S. meridionalis is larger than S. vulgaris specimens from three other regions in Italy for mandible length, skull width and skull (condylobasal) length, and principal component scores indicate significant shape differences of specimens from the Calabria population (S. meridionalis) compared to all other specimens (S. vulgaris). These morphological differences are further supported by genetic evidence at three mitochondrial markers (D-loop, cytochrome b and the DNA barcoding region COI) using the widest molecular dataset ever assembled for Sciurus vulgaris and S. meridionalis. All the investigated markers revealed exclusive haplotypes for S. meridionalis well separated from those of S. vulgaris and previously published results based on nuclear markers further support our taxonomic hypothesis. We suggest Calabrian black squirrel as common name for this new taxon. Introduction The Quaternary has experienced important climatic changes that deeply modified the distribution range of species within the Palae- arctic region (Webb and Bartlein, 1992). In Europe, during the gla- cial events of the Quaternary, central regions tended to be covered by steppe-tundra, whereas deciduous forests were generally confined to the Mediterranean peninsulas (Zagwijn, 1992). For temperate forest mammal species, such as squirrels, it is predicted that they modified their range according to the shifts of their habitat, so that they would have survived glacial maxima in the Mediterranean peninsulas (Iberian, Italian and Balcanic) and extra-Mediterranean refugia of forests and forest fauna detected based on fossil record and phylogeographic stud- ies (e.g. Sommer and Nadachowski, 2006; Stewart et al., 2010). Medi- terranean glacial refugia have frequently been the source of postglacial and interglacial distributions of species in central and northern Europe (Taberlet and Bouvet, 1994; Hewitt, 1999, 2001; Michaux et al., 2003). But rather than contributing to the postglacial colonisation of Europe, Mediterranean populations of widespread small mammals may repres- ent long-term isolates undergoing allopatric speciation. This could ex- plain the high incidence of endemisms of small mammals associated with the Mediterranean peninsulas (Bilton et al., 1998; Randi, 2007; Stewart et al., 2010). Typical examples for Italy are Talpa romana (Fil- ippucci at al., 1987) and Lepus corsicanus (Italian hare, Pierpaoli et al., 1999). The Italian hare is an endemic species confused with the ∗ Corresponding author Email address: l.wauters@uninsubria.it (Lucas A. Wauters) widespread Lepus europaeus (brown hare) but phylogenetically closer to Lepus timidus (mountain hare). L. corsicanus is present in central- southern Italy and Sicily and was first described and classified, using a morphological approach, as a true species (De Winton, 1898), later considered a subspecies of Lepus europaeus to be finally re-evaluated at the end of 20 th century using an integrated approach of morphology and genetics (Palacios, 1996; Pierpaoli et al., 1999; Riga et al., 2001). Moreover, phylogeographic studies mainly based on mtDNA have re- vealed a complex genetic structure found in several Calabrian mam- mals, that are very often clearly distinct from the rest of peninsular Italy (for Neomys see Castiglia et al., 2007; for Talpa romana Canestrelli et al., 2010; for Myodes Colangelo et al., 2012; for Muscardinus Mouton et al., 2016). This is certainly due to the complex Quaternary paleo- geographic history of Calabria, an archipelago for much of its history (Bonfiglio et al., 2002). The Italian Peninsula is characterised by high species richness, host- ing not less than 58000 known animal species (Italy’s 5° National report to the Convention on Biological Diversity, 2009–2013). Vertebrates includes almost 1300 species, and 672 species have been assessed in the recent “IUCN Red List of Italian Vertebrates” (Rondinini et al., 2013). It has been calculated that about 10% of Italian invertebrates and about 5% of vertebrates are endemic (Rondinini et al., 2013). Species richness in the Mediterranean peninsulae is also influenced by recent debate on the species concept in taxonomy. Some schools are in favour of less inclusive species concepts (thus raising the status of previously considered subspecies to species level, e.g. Gippoliti Hystrix, the Italian Journal of Mammalogy ISSN 1825-5272 12th January 2018 ©cbe2018 Associazione Teriologica Italiana doi:10.4404/hystrix–28.1-12015