Evidence of Echolocation in the Common Shrew from Molecular Convergence with Other Echolocating Mammals.

ABSTRACT: Along with sophisticated echolocation found in bats and toothed whales, the common shrew (Sorex araneus) was confirmed to possess echolocation ability based on behavioral and experimental evidence such as high-frequency twittering and close-range spatial orientation. However, whether echolocation in the common shrew is convergent with bats and dolphins at the molecular level remains poorly understood. In this study, we gathered the coding region sequences of 11 hearing-related genes from genome data and previous studies. Convergent evolutionary analyses identified 13 amino acid residues (seven in CDH23, five in OTOF, and one in PRESTIN) under strong convergent evolution shared among the common shrew and other echolocating mammals (bats and dolphins). Furthermore, a phylogenetic tree

SUBMITTER: Chai S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7262541 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature