0000000000132277
AUTHOR
Joachim Kosuch
Phylogeography of Ptychadena mascareniensis suggests transoceanic dispersal in a widespread African-Malagasy frog lineage
Aim The Mascarene ridged frog, Ptychadena mascareniensis, is the only African amphibian species thought to occur on Madagascar and on the Seychelles and also Mascarene islands. We explored its phylogenetic relationships and intraspecific genetic differentiation to contribute to the understanding of transoceanic dispersal in amphibians. Methods Fragments of the mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene were sequenced from specimens collected over most of the distribution area of P. mascareniensis, including populations from Madagascar, Mascarenes and Seychelles. Results We identified five deeply divergent clades having pairwise divergences >5%, which probably all represent cryptic species in a P. mascaren…
Out of Asia: Mitochondrial DNA Evidence for an Oriental Origin of Tiger Frogs, Genus Hoplobatrachus
Most examples of intercontinental dispersal events after the Miocene contact between Africa and Asia involve mammal lineages. Among amphibians, a number of probably related groups are known from both continents, but their phylogenies are so far largely unresolved. To test the hypothesis of Miocene dispersal against a Mesozoic vicariance scenario in the context of Gondwana fragmentation, we analyzed fragments of the mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene (572 bp) in 40 specimens of 34 species of the anuran family Ranidae. Results corroborated the monophyly of tiger frogs (genus Hoplobatrachus), a genus with representatives in Africa and Asia. The African H. occipitalis was the sister group of the Asian…
Palaeoclimatic changes explain Anatolian mountain frog evolution: a test for alternating vicariance and dispersal events
Holarctic biodiversity has been influenced by climatic fluctuations since the Pliocene. Asia Minor was one of the major corridors for postglacial invasions in the Palearctic. Today this area is characterized by an extraordinarily rich fauna with close affiliation to European, Asian and Indo-African biota. However, exact scenarios of range expansion and contraction are lacking. Using a phylogeographical approach we (i) identify monophyletic lineages among Anatolian mountain frogs and (ii) derive a spatio-temporal hypothesis for the invasion process in Anatolia. We sequenced 540 bp of the mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene from 40 populations of mountain frogs from Anatolia, the Elburz Mountains and…
Reconciling fossils and molecules: Cenozoic divergence of cichlid fishes and the biogeography of Madagascar
Aim The biogeographical origins of the extant vertebrates endemic to Madagascar are largely unsolved, but have often been related to vicariance in the context of fragmentation of the supercontinent Gondwana in the Mesozoic. Such hypotheses are especially appealing in the case of cichlid fishes, which show phylogenetic relationships reflecting the temporal successions of the breakup of Gondwana. We used molecular clock data to test this assumption. Location Fragments of the 16S rRNA gene and of the nuclear Tmo-4C4 locus, partly obtained from Genbank from South American, African, Malagasy and Indian cichlids were analysed. Methods Based on monophyletic cichlid radiations in African lakes, we …
Fossorial but widespread: the phylogeography of the common spadefoot toad (Pelobates fuscus), and the role of the Po Valley as a major source of genetic variability.
International audience; Pelobates fuscus is a fossorial amphibian that inhabits much of the European plain areas. To unveil traces of expansion and contraction events of the species' range, we sequenced 702 bp of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene. To infer the population history we applied phylogeographical methods, such as nested clade phylogeographical analysis (NCPA), and used summary statistics to analyse population structure under a neutral model of evolution. Populations were assigned to different drainage systems and we tested hypotheses of explicit refugial models using information from analysis of molecular variance, nucleotide diversity, effective population size estimation, NCP…
Amphibians of the Kayan Mentarang National Park (East Kalimantan, Indonesia): estimating overall and local species richness
On the basis of surveys since 1997 and an intensive survey at the World Wildlife Fund field station at Lalut Birai in 2001, we assessed the importance of the Kayan Mentarang National Park in East Kalimantan for the conservation of Borneo's amphibian fauna. Sixty-five frog species and one Caecilian species are currently known to occur in this region. We report their occurrence in 16 subareas. Most of the species were recorded at Upper Bahau (41) and at the Lalut Birai field station (33). Based on the results of opportunistic searches and transect censuses at Lalut Birai, we argue that the amphibian diversity of the national park is still greatly underestimated.
Convergent evolution of aposematic coloration in Neotropical poison frogs: a molecular phylogenetic perspective
Submitted by Guilherme Lemeszenski (guilherme@nead.unesp.br) on 2014-02-26T17:17:10Z No. of bitstreams: 1 WOS000186417800006.pdf: 196897 bytes, checksum: cbe901a47807d22aec173ee8cc011a64 (MD5) Made available in DSpace on 2014-02-26T17:17:10Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 WOS000186417800006.pdf: 196897 bytes, checksum: cbe901a47807d22aec173ee8cc011a64 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2003-01-01 Submitted by Vitor Silverio Rodrigues (vitorsrodrigues@reitoria.unesp.br) on 2014-05-20T13:59:12Z No. of bitstreams: 1 WOS000186417800006.pdf: 196897 bytes, checksum: cbe901a47807d22aec173ee8cc011a64 (MD5) Made available in DSpace on 2014-05-20T13:59:12Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 WOS000186417800006.pdf: 196…
Phylogeny and classification of poison frogs (Amphibia: dendrobatidae), based on mitochondrial 16S and 12S ribosomal RNA gene sequences.
An analysis of partial sequences of the 16S ribosomal rRNA gene (582 bp) of 20 poison frog species (Dendrobatidae) confirmed their phylogenetic relationships to bufonid and leptodactylid frogs. Representatives of the ranoid families and subfamilies Raninae, Mantellinae, Petropedetinae, Cacosterninae, Arthroleptidae, Astylosternidae, and Microhylidae did not cluster as sister group of the Dendrobatidae. Similar results were obtained in an analysis using a partial sequence of the 12S gene (350 bp) in a reduced set of taxa and in a combined analysis. Within the Dendrobatidae, our data supported monophyly of the genus Phyllobates but indicated paraphyly of Epipedobates and Colostethus. Minyobat…
Mitochondrial DNA sequence data support the allocation of Greek mainland chameleons to Chamaeleo africanus
Arnold, E.N., Burton, J.A. (1978): Reptiles and Amphibians of Britain and Europe. London, Collins & Sons.Bruno, S., Maugeri, S. (1990): Guida ai serpenti d’ Italia e d’ Europa. Milano, Editoriale Giorgio Mondadori.Carpenter, C.C., Ferguson, G.W. (1977): Variation and evolution of stereotyped behaviour in reptiles. In: Biologyof theReptilia, Vol. 7, p. 335-554. Gans, C., Tinkle, D.W.,Eds, London, New York, San Francisco, AcademicPress.Tomaselli, R., Balduzzi, A., Filipello, S. (1973): Carta Bioclimatica d’ Italia. Collana Verde 33, MinisteroAgricoltura eForeste, Roma.
First Record of the Genus Acanthixalus Laurent, 1944 from the Upper Guinean Rain Forest, West Africa, with the Description of a New Species
Abstract We describe a new species of Acanthixalus from southwestern Ivory Coast. Acanthixalus sonjae sp. nov. differs from the Central African Acanthixalus spinosus genetically by 4.6 % in the investigated 16S rRNA. Morphologically adult frogs are very similar to A. spinosus. Male A. sonjae have wider heads and probably smaller gular glands than A. spinosus. Tadpoles of A. sonjae differ by much longer tails. Acanthixalus sonjae males are apparently mute. The new species is semiaquatic and lives in large water-filled cavities of trees in secondary and primary rain forest. Tadpoles complete metamorphosis in three months. They are at least partly carnivorous.
Exploring the potential of life-history key innovation: brook breeding in the radiation of the Malagasy treefrog genus Boophis
The treefrog genus Boophis is one of the most species-rich endemic amphibian groups of Madagascar. It consists of species specialized to breeding in brooks (48 species) and ponds (10 species). We reconstructed the phylogeny of Boophis using 16S ribosomal DNA sequences (558 bp) from 27 species. Brook-breeders were monophyletic and probably derived from an ancestral pond-breeding lineage. Pond-breeders were paraphyletic. The disparity in diversification among pond-breeders and brook-breeders was notable among endemic Malagasy frogs, although it was not significant when considering Boophis alone. Sibling species which have different advertisement calls but are virtually indistinguishable by mo…
Climatic oscillations triggered post-Messinian speciation of Western Palearctic brown frogs (Amphibia, Anura, Ranidae)
Abstract Oscillating glacial cycles over the past 2.4 million years are proposed to have had a major impact on the diversity of contemporary species communities. We used mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequence data to infer phylogenetic relationships within Western Palearctic brown frogs and to test the influence of Pliocene and Pleistocene climatic changes on their evolution. We sequenced 1976 bp of the mitochondrial genes 16S rRNA and cytochrome b and of the nuclear rhodopsin gene for all current species and subspecies. Based on an established allozyme clock for Western Palearctic water frogs and substitution rate constancy among water frogs and brown frogs, we calibrated a molecular clock…
Molecular phylogeny of hyperoliid treefrogs: biogeographic origin of Malagasy and Seychellean taxa and re-analysis of familial paraphyly
Treefrogs of the family Hyperoliidae are distributed in Africa, Madagascar and the Seychelles. In this study, their phylogeny was studied using sequences of fragments of the mitochondrial 16Sand 12SrRNA and cytochrome b genes. The molecular data strongly confirmed monophyly of the subfamily Hyperoliinae but indicated that the genus Leptopelis (subfamily Leptopelinae) is more closely related to species of the African family Astylosternidae. The Seychellean genus Tachycnemis was the sister group of the Malagasy Heterixalus in all molecular analyses; this clade was deeply nested within the Hyperoliinae. A re-evaluation of the morphological data did not contradict the sister group relationships…
Multiple overseas dispersal in amphibians
Amphibians are thought to be unable to disperse over ocean barriers because they do not tolerate the osmotic stress of salt water. Their distribution patterns have therefore generally been explained by vicariance biogeography. Here, we present compelling evidence for overseas dispersal of frogs in the Indian Ocean region based on the discovery of two endemic species on Mayotte. This island belongs to the Comoro archipelago, which is entirely volcanic and surrounded by sea depths of more than 3500 m. This constitutes the first observation of endemic amphibians on oceanic islands that did not have any past physical contact to other land masses. The two species of frogs had previously been tho…
Conflicting molecular phylogenies of European long-eared bats (Plecotus) can be explained by cryptic diversity
Abstract Conflicting phylogenetic signals of two data sets that analyse different portions of the same molecule are unexpected and require an explanation. In the present paper we test whether (i) differential evolution of two mitochondrial genes or (ii) cryptic diversity can better explain conflicting results of two recently published molecular phylogenies on the same set of species of long-eared bats (genus Plecotus). We sequenced 1714 bp of three mitochondrial regions (16S, ND1, and D-loop) of 35 Plecotus populations from 10 European countries. A likelihood ratio test revealed congruent phylogenetic signals of the three data partitions. Our phylogenetic analyses demonstrated that the exis…