Analysis of ultraconserved elements supports African origins of narrow-mouthed frogs

Streicher, Jeffrey W.; Loader, Simon P.; Varela-Jaramillo, Andrea; Montoya, Paola; Sá, Rafael O. de

doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2020.106771

Cited by 20 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Reconciling the coarse spatial resolution of climate models with biotic phenomena calls for downscaling techniques that currently are only applied to future climate projections. Such a framework will allow us to address questions regarding geologic–climatic–biotic evolution in Africa. Next‐generation sequencing is providing a massive amount of data leading to larger and more robust phylogenies (Ojeda et al ., 2019; Brée et al ., 2020; Koenen et al ., 2020; Streicher et al ., 2020), but has yet to be applied widely to the African biota. Increased sequence data, together with better fossil calibrations, will provide a more precise understanding of the evolution of African biodiversity.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tectonics, climate and the diversification of the tropical African terrestrial flora and fauna

et al. 2020

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Tropical Africa is home to an astonishing biodiversity occurring in a variety of ecosystems. Past climatic change and geological events have impacted the evolution and diversification of this biodiversity. During the last two decades, around 90 dated molecular phylogenies of different clades across animals and plants have been published leading to an increased understanding of the diversification and speciation processes generating tropical African biodiversity. In parallel, extended geological and palaeoclimatic records together with detailed numerical simulations have refined our understanding of past geological and climatic changes in Africa. To date, these important advances have not been reviewed within a common framework. Here, we critically review and synthesize African climate, tectonics and terrestrial biodiversity evolution throughout the Cenozoic to the mid‐Pleistocene, drawing on recent advances in Earth and life sciences. We first review six major geo‐climatic periods defining tropical African biodiversity diversification by synthesizing 89 dated molecular phylogeny studies. Two major geo‐climatic factors impacting the diversification of the sub‐Saharan biota are highlighted. First, Africa underwent numerous climatic fluctuations at ancient and more recent timescales, with tectonic, greenhouse gas, and orbital forcing stimulating diversification. Second, increased aridification since the Late Eocene led to important extinction events, but also provided unique diversification opportunities shaping the current tropical African biodiversity landscape. We then review diversification studies of tropical terrestrial animal and plant clades and discuss three major models of speciation: (i) geographic speciation via vicariance (allopatry); (ii) ecological speciation impacted by climate and geological changes, and (iii) genomic speciation via genome duplication. Geographic speciation has been the most widely documented to date and is a common speciation model across tropical Africa. We conclude with four important challenges faced by tropical African biodiversity research: (i) to increase knowledge by gathering basic and fundamental biodiversity information; (ii) to improve modelling of African geophysical evolution throughout the Cenozoic via better constraints and downscaling approaches; (iii) to increase the precision of phylogenetic reconstruction and molecular dating of tropical African clades by using next generation sequencing approaches together with better fossil calibrations; (iv) finally, as done here, to integrate data better from Earth and life sciences by focusing on the interdisciplinary study of the evolution of tropical African biodiversity in a wider geodiversity context.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tectonics, climate and the diversification of the tropical African terrestrial flora and fauna

et al. 2020

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“…Frogs of the family Microhylidae are some of the most species rich groups of Anura, comprising 690 species in 12 subfamilies ( Frost, 2020 ; Streicher et al, 2020 ). Because of their transcontinental circumtropical distribution, microhylids are a promising test case for biogeography studies ( Savage, 1973 ; Van Bocxlaer et al, 2006 ; Van der Meijden et al, 2007 ; Kurabayashi et al, 2011 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A little frog leaps a long way: compounded colonizations of the Indian Subcontinent discovered in the tiny Oriental frog genusMicrohyla(Amphibia: Microhylidae)

Gorin

Solovyeva

Hasan

et al. 2020

PeerJ

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Frogs of the genus Microhyla include some of the world’s smallest amphibians and represent the largest radiation of Asian microhylids, currently encompassing 50 species, distributed across the Oriental biogeographic region. The genus Microhyla remains one of the taxonomically most challenging groups of Asian frogs and was found to be paraphyletic with respect to large-sized fossorial Glyphoglossus. In this study we present a time-calibrated phylogeny for frogs in the genus Microhyla, and discuss taxonomy, historical biogeography, and morphological evolution of these frogs. Our updated phylogeny of the genus with nearly complete taxon sampling includes 48 nominal Microhyla species and several undescribed candidate species. Phylogenetic analyses of 3,207 bp of combined mtDNA and nuDNA data recovered three well-supported groups: the Glyphoglossus clade, Southeast Asian Microhyla II clade (includes M. annectens species group), and a diverse Microhyla I clade including all other species. Within the largest major clade of Microhyla are seven well-supported subclades that we identify as the M. achatina, M. fissipes, M. berdmorei, M. superciliaris, M. ornata, M. butleri, and M. palmipes species groups. The phylogenetic position of 12 poorly known Microhyla species is clarified for the first time. These phylogenetic results, along with molecular clock and ancestral area analyses, show the Microhyla—Glyphoglossus assemblage to have originated in Southeast Asia in the middle Eocene just after the first hypothesized land connections between the Indian Plate and the Asian mainland. While Glyphoglossus and Microhyla II remained within their ancestral ranges, Microhyla I expanded its distribution generally east to west, colonizing and diversifying through the Cenozoic. The Indian Subcontinent was colonized by members of five Microhyla species groups independently, starting with the end Oligocene—early Miocene that coincides with an onset of seasonally dry climates in South Asia. Body size evolution modeling suggests that four groups of Microhyla have independently achieved extreme miniaturization with adult body size below 15 mm. Three of the five smallest Microhyla species are obligate phytotelm-breeders and we argue that their peculiar reproductive biology may be a factor involved in miniaturization. Body size increases in Microhyla—Glyphoglossus seem to be associated with a burrowing adaptation to seasonally dry habitats. Species delimitation analyses suggest a vast underestimation of species richness and diversity in Microhyla and reveal 15–33 undescribed species. We revalidate M. nepenthicola, synonymize M. pulverata with M. marmorata, and provide insights on taxonomic statuses of a number of poorly known species. Further integrative studies, combining evidence from phylogeny, morphology, advertisement calls, and behavior will result in a better systematic understanding of this morphologically cryptic radiation of Asian frogs.

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“…Anuran amphibians of the family Microhylidae (narrow-mouthed frogs) are globally distributed and diverse. This group currently comprises 12 subfamilies, 57 genera and over 700 recognized species, thus representing 10.3% of extant anuran diversity, making it the third largest anuran family after Hylidae and Strabomantidae (Streicher et al 2020;Frost 2020). Microhylid frogs are morphologically and ecologically diverse including terrestrial, arboreal and fossorial (burrowing) morphotypes (Wells 2010;Moen et al 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Microhylids display extensive variation in adult external morphology, osteology, and musculature; and in many cases, parallel specializations associated with a burrowing lifestyle may have led to remarkable morphological convergence (Emerson 1971;Wu 1994;Trueb et al 2011;Moen et al 2015). The extensive homoplasy observed in Microhylidae hinders phylogenetic interpretations from morphological characters (Wu 1994); significant progress in understanding evolutionary relationships of microhylids was achieved only through molecular phylogenetic studies (de Sá et al 2012(de Sá et al , 2019a(de Sá et al , 2019bTu et al 2018;Streicher et al 2020). Skeletal composition varies substantially among microhylids, showing features that are rare or absent in other anuran clades (Noble and Parker 1926;Parker 1934;Zweifel 1972;1986;de Sá and Trueb 1991).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Consequences of parallel miniaturisation in Microhylinae (Anura, Microhylidae), with the description of a new genus of diminutive South East Asian frogs

Gorin¹,

Scherz²,

Корост³

et al. 2021

ZSE

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The genus Microhyla Tschudi, 1838 includes 52 species and is one of the most diverse genera of the family Microhylidae, being the most species-rich taxon of the Asian subfamily Microhylinae. The recent, rapid description of numerous new species of Microhyla with complex phylogenetic relationships has made the taxonomy of the group especially challenging. Several recent phylogenetic studies suggested paraphyly of Microhyla with respect to Glyphoglossus Günther, 1869, and revealed three major phylogenetic lineages of mid-Eocene origin within this assemblage. However, comprehensive works assessing morphological variation among and within these lineages are absent. In the present study we investigate the generic taxonomy of Microhyla–Glyphoglossus assemblage based on a new phylogeny including 57 species, comparative morphological analysis of skeletons from cleared-and-stained specimens for 23 species, and detailed descriptions of generalized osteology based on volume-rendered micro-CT scans for five species–altogether representing all major lineages within the group. The results confirm three highly divergent and well-supported clades that correspond with external and osteological morphological characteristics, as well as respective geographic distribution. Accordingly, acknowledging ancient divergence between these lineages and their significant morphological differentiation, we propose to consider these three lineages as distinct genera: Microhylasensu stricto, Glyphoglossus, and a newly described genus, Nanohylagen. nov.

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Analysis of ultraconserved elements supports African origins of narrow-mouthed frogs

Cited by 20 publications

References 27 publications

Tectonics, climate and the diversification of the tropical African terrestrial flora and fauna

Tectonics, climate and the diversification of the tropical African terrestrial flora and fauna

A little frog leaps a long way: compounded colonizations of the Indian Subcontinent discovered in the tiny Oriental frog genusMicrohyla(Amphibia: Microhylidae)

Consequences of parallel miniaturisation in Microhylinae (Anura, Microhylidae), with the description of a new genus of diminutive South East Asian frogs

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