Species identification methods are needed for small mammals. Herein, we present a simple and efficient identification key based on the hair morphology of Central African rodents (Rodentia) and shrews (Soricomorpha). A total of 1,320 museum hair samples from 51 species were analysed with an optical light microscope. One‐third (31.37%) of these samples could be identified to the species level using four morphological characters (medulla, cuticle, size and colour). The remaining species formed nine groups of two to 10 species each which could not be discriminated because of overlapping characteristics between different taxa. In addition, shrew, dormice and squirrel hair samples were clearly distinguishable from the other samples because they were either shorter (0.68 ± 0.19 cm) or longer (1.86 ± 0.3 and 1.85 ± 0.63 cm), respectively. In addition, 19 (43.18%) field‐collected samples of unknown origin were successfully identified to the level of species or group of species. Thus, to increase the efficiency of this identification key, the inclusion of more morphological characteristics (i.e. hair diameter and shape, cuticle index, cortex types) and DNA barcoding should be considered. Finally, the proposed identification key could be used as a simple and efficient tool for species inventories and ecological studies of targeted taxa in Central Africa.

中文翻译：

---

使用头发形态区分中非啮齿动物和sh

小型哺乳动物需要物种鉴定方法。在此，我们根据中非啮齿动物（Rodentia）和sh（Soricomorpha）的头发形态，提出了一种简单有效的识别码。用光学显微镜对来自51个物种的1,320个博物馆毛发样本进行了分析。可以使用四个形态特征（髓质，表皮，大小和颜色）将这些样品的三分之一（31.37％）识别到物种水平。其余物种形成9组，每组2至10种，由于不同分类单元之间的重叠特征而无法区分。此外，泼妇，休眠和松鼠毛发样本与其他样本明显不同，因为它们分别较短（0.68±0.19 cm）或较长（1.86±0.3和1.85±0.63 cm）。此外，已成功识别出19种（43.18％）未知来源的野外采样样本，这些样本符合物种或物种组的水平。因此，为了提高此识别码的效率，应考虑包括更多的形态特征（例如，头发的直径和形状，表皮指数，皮质类型）和DNA条形码。最后，拟议的识别码可作为中非目标分类群物种清单和生态研究的简单有效工具。