&lt;i&gt;Taruga&lt;/i&gt; (Anura: Rhacophoridae), a new genus of foam-nesting tree frogs endemic to Sri Lanka

Meegaskumbura, Madhava; Meegaskumbura, Suyama; Bowatte, Gayan; Manamendra-Arachchi, Kelum; Pethiyagoda, Rohan; Hanken, James; Schneider, Christopher J.

doi:10.4038/cjsbs.v39i2.2995

Cited by 33 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…Whenever possible, samples from the type localities of nominal taxa were included and multiple samples were used to represent widespread species. Currently, 15 genera with 321 species of rhacophorids are recognized (25,47). The mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) dataset included 317 samples from all 15 rhacophorid genera, representing 114 species.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diversification of rhacophorid frogs provides evidence for accelerated faunal exchange between India and Eurasia during the Oligocene

Yang

Klaus

et al. 2013

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

111

128

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The accretion of the Indian subcontinent to Eurasia triggered a massive faunal and floral exchange, with Gondwanan taxa entering into Asia and vice versa. The traditional view on the Indian–Asian collision assumes contact of the continental plates during the Early Eocene. Many biogeographic studies rely on this assumption. However, the exact mode and timing of this geological event is still under debate. Here we address, based on an extensive phylogenetic analysis of rhacophorid tree frogs, if there was already a Paleogene biogeographic link between Southeast Asia and India; in which direction faunal exchange occurred between India and Eurasia within the Rhacophoridae; and if the timing of the faunal exchange correlates with one of the recently suggested geological models. Rhacophorid tree frogs showed an early dispersal from India to Asia between 46 and 57 Ma, as reconstructed from the fossil record. During the Middle Eocene, however, faunal exchange ceased, followed by increase of rhacophorid dispersal events between Asia and the Indian subcontinent during the Oligocene that continued until the Middle Miocene. This corroborates recent geological models that argue for a much later final collision between the continental plates. We predict that the Oligocene faunal exchange between the Indian subcontinent and Asia, as shown here for rhacophorid frogs, also applies for other nonvolant organisms with an Indian–Asian distribution, and suggest that previous studies that deal with this faunal interchange should be carefully reinvestigated.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diversification of rhacophorid frogs provides evidence for accelerated faunal exchange between India and Eurasia during the Oligocene

Yang

Klaus

et al. 2013

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

111

128

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“…These new generic descriptions are largely based on molecular data and to a lesser extent on molecular data and morphology [13,14,16]. One of the main impediments to new lineage identification, prior to the advent of molecular phylogenetic techniques, was the lack of consistent external morphological characters.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…One of the main impediments to new lineage identification, prior to the advent of molecular phylogenetic techniques, was the lack of consistent external morphological characters. In recent phylogenetic reconstructions of rhacophorid relationships, adult skeletal data have been sparsely used [13,14], but never skeletal ontogeny.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sri Lankan rhaocophorids belong to three independent evolutionary lineages representative of two major life history strategies: foam-nesting Polypedates and Taruga [14], and terrestrial direct-developing Pseudophilautus [2,5,6,15]. Ontogenetic skeletal development of the newly recognized genus Taruga , which was previously referred to as a part of Polypedates , has never been studied.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Comparative Postembryonic Skeletal Ontogeny in Two Sister Lineages of Old World Tree Frogs (Rhacophoridae: Taruga, Polypedates)

2017

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Rhacophoridae, a family of morphologically cryptic frogs, with many genetically distinct evolutionary lineages, is understudied with respect to skeletal morphology, life history traits and skeletal ontogeny. Here we analyze two species each from two sister lineages, Taruga and Polypedates, and compare their postembryonic skeletal ontogeny, larval chondrocrania and adult osteology in the context of a well-resolved phylogeny. We further compare these ontogenetic traits with the direct-developing Pseudophilautus silus. For each species, we differentially stained a nearly complete developmental series of tadpoles from early postembryonic stages through metamorphosis to determine the intraspecific and interspecific differences of cranial and postcranial bones. Chondrocrania of the four species differ in 1) size; 2) presence/absence of anterolateral and posterior process; and 3) shape of the suprarostral cartilages. Interspecific variation of ossification sequences is limited during early stages, but conspicuous during later development. Early cranial ossification is typical of other anuran larvae, where the frontoparietal, exoccipital and parasphenoid ossify first. The ossification sequences of the cranial bones vary considerably within the four species. Both species of Taruga show a faster cranial ossification rate than Polypedates. Seven cranial bones form when larvae near metamorphic climax. Ossification of all 18 cranial bones is initiated by larval Gosner stage 46 in T. eques. However, some cranial bone formation is not initiated until after metamorphosis in the other three species. Postcranial sequence does not vary significantly. The comparison of adult osteology highlights two characters, which have not been previously recorded: presence/absence of the parieto-squamosal plates and bifurcated base of the omosternum. This study will provide a starting point for comparative analyses of rhacophorid skeletal ontogeny and facilitate the study of the evolution of ontogenetic repatterning associated with the life history variation in the family.

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“…Bossuyt et al (2004), in an analysis of several vertebrate (shrub frogs, caecilians, earth snakes and freshwater fish) and invertebrate (freshwater crabs and shrimps) groups representing a diversity of lifehistory strategies showed that the wet-adapted taxa are characterized by clade level endemism. For wet-adapted frogs, this notion was reinforced with the recognition of a Sri Lankan endemic genus, Taruga, (Meegaskumbura et al, 2010), delineation of reciprocal endemicity of Hylarana species of India and Sri Lanka (Biju et al, 2014), endemicity of Nannophrys (which exhibits several unique features , and the endemicity of the genus Adenomus Van Bocxlaer et al, 2009). However, it is not known if this pattern is representative of the other anuran taxa, especially for some of the dry-adapted species, which are putatively shared with India.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Species boundaries, biogeography and evolutionarily significant units in dwarf toads: <em>Duttaphrynus scaber</em> and <em>D. atukoralei</em> (Bufonidae: Adenominae)

et al. 2017

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Species boundaries and patterns of gene flow in Dwarf toads, Duttaphrynus scaber and D. atukoralei, were assessed using mitochondrial DNA markers. Samples from four populations in Sri Lanka (Mihintale, Ampara, Yala, Galle) were analyzed for three mitochondrial gene fragments (16S rRNA, COI and Cyt b) along with four Genbank sequences of 16S rRNA from Indian samples (Thiruvananthapuram, Maharashtra, Mudigere). Phylogenetic trees and haplotype networks were generated, and morphology was assessed. Analyses suggest a single species (Duttaphrynus scaber) with three major clades: a widespread clade shared between India and Northern Sri Lanka, an Eastern and Southeastern Sri Lankan clade (previously referred to as D. atukoralei, the validity of which, however, our analysis disputes), and a distinct Southern wet-zone clade from Galle (referred previously to as D. atukoralei). Duttaphrynus atukoralei (topotypes from Yala, Sri Lanka) is genetically too close to D. scaber (Indian and northern Sri Lankan clade) to be distinguished as a species; these two clades have a genetic distance of 0.95 -1.55% for the 16S rRNA fragment. The haplotype networks for the 16S rRNA gene suggest incomplete lineage sorting between the Ampara and Yala populations; COI and Cyt b show complete sorting for all populations analyzed, suggesting strong population structure. All analyses suggest substantially restricted gene flow to the southern wet-zone population (Galle). This population also assumes a basal phylogenetic position, suggesting that D. scaber first evolved in southern Sri Lanka's wet zone and dispersed across the lowland areas of the island and to India. Here, we provisionally recognize this population (Galle) as an evolutionarily significant unit of D. scaber; future analyses using multiple criteria may indicate this to be a new Dwarf toad species. External morphology is largely uninformative as the Yala, Ampara and Galle populations cannot be distinguished from each other; the morphological distinction between Yala, Ampara, Galle versus Mihintale is restricted to only the shape of the parotid glands -slightly oval versus rounded -a minor difference. Both genetic and morphological evidence so far suggest that there is only a single Dwarf toad species in Sri Lanka, which is also shared with India, namely Duttaphrynus scaber; however, with strong population structure, including an evolutionarily significant unit (Southern wet-zone population).

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<i>Taruga</i> (Anura: Rhacophoridae), a new genus of foam-nesting tree frogs endemic to Sri Lanka

Cited by 33 publications

References 21 publications

Diversification of rhacophorid frogs provides evidence for accelerated faunal exchange between India and Eurasia during the Oligocene

Diversification of rhacophorid frogs provides evidence for accelerated faunal exchange between India and Eurasia during the Oligocene

Comparative Postembryonic Skeletal Ontogeny in Two Sister Lineages of Old World Tree Frogs (Rhacophoridae: Taruga, Polypedates)

Species boundaries, biogeography and evolutionarily significant units in dwarf toads: <em>Duttaphrynus scaber</em> and <em>D. atukoralei</em> (Bufonidae: Adenominae)

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