High mitochondrial diversity within and among populations of Malagasy poison frogs

Abstract

The diurnal, brightly colored, and toxic frogs of the genus Mantella are among the most prominent representatives of the endemic anuran fauna of Madagascar. Especially three closely related species, M. aurantiaca, M. crocea, and M. milotympanum, are intensively collected for the pet trade, although basic data on their natural history and genetic diversity are still lacking. Our phylogenetic analyses based on 2.8 kbp of partial 16S rRNA, 12S rRNA, cytochrome b, and rhodopsin DNA sequences confirmed that these species belong to one of the five major clades in Mantella, the M. madagascariensis group. A haplotype network constructed using 830 bp of cytochrome b in 49 individuals from seven populations revealed that M. milotympanum and M. crocea have largely similar haplotypes sharing, confirming doubts about the species validity of M. milotympanum and indicating independent evolution of bright orange pattern in M. milotympanum and M. aurantiaca. Further, clustering of four individuals of M. aurantiaca from Andranomena with M. crocea suggests incomplete lineage sorting or introgression resulting from secondary contact of refugial populations. AMOVA confirmed significant intrapopulation nucleotide diversity (>20%). These diversity patterns and our field observations indicate relatively large population sizes. Hence, overcollecting is probably a minor problem and conservation efforts should rather focus on saving some large populations from habitat destruction through logging and forest fires.

Genetic variation of an endangered Malagasy frog, Mantella cowani, and its phylogeographic relationship to the widespread M. baroni

“…In the genus Mantella hybridization among different species has been recorded in captivity . Haplotype sharing among taxa has also been observed recently Vences et al 2004).…”

“…In the genus Mantella, five major groups can be genetically distinguished (Schaefer et al 2002;Chiari et al 2004;Vences et al 2004). M. cowani belongs to the M. cowani group that also includes M. baroni, M. haraldmeieri and M. nigricans.…”

Molecular phylogeny of Malagasy reed frogs, Heterixalus, and the relative performance of bioacoustics and color-patterns for resolving their systematics

“…For primer information, see Table E2. PCR was performed according to the reaction conditions and thermocycling protocols described in Vences et al (2004Vences et al ( , 2003a. Sequencing reactions were performed with the forward primers by Macrogen Inc., Korea (cf.…”

“…Sequencing reactions were performed with the forward primers by Macrogen Inc., Korea (cf. Vences et al, 2004). The obtained sequences were edited conservatively and verified as hyperoliid DNA via BLAST searches.…”

Distribution and Population Density of the Black-Eared Malagasy Poison Frog, mantella Milotympanum Staniszewski, 1996 (Amphibia: Mantellidae)

“…Although it almost has a uniformly orange-red colour, quite similar to that of the golden Mantella, M. aurantiaca Mocquard, 1900, it appears to be much more closely related to another species, M. crocea Pintak & Böhme, 1990, as evidenced by molecular data (Vences et al, 2004). Because the taxonomy of Mantella species was largely unclarified before the revision of Vences et al (1999), no reliable trade statistics are available for M. milotympanum which likely was confounded in the exportation lists with M. aurantiaca.…”