Journal
MOLECULAR PHYLOGENETICS AND EVOLUTION
Volume 48, Issue 2, Pages 515-527Publisher
ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCE
DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2008.04.020
Keywords
genetic divergence; molecular phylogeny; mitochondrial genes; divergence time; amphibia; hoplobatruchus; euphlyctis; cryptic species; Bangladesh
Funding
- Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan [17570082]
- Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research [17570082] Funding Source: KAKEN
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To elucidate the species composition, genetic divergence, evolutionary relationships, and divergence time of Hoplobatrachus and Euphlyctis frogs (subfamily Dicroglossinae, family Ranidae) in Bangladesh and other Asian countries, we analyzed the mitochondrial Cyt b, 12S, and 16S rRNA genes of 252 specimens. Our phylogenetic analyses showed 13 major clades corresponding to several cryptic species as well as to nominal species in the two genera. The results suggested monophyly of Asian Hoplobatrachus species, but the position of African Hoplobatrachus occipitalis was not clarified. Nucleotide divergence and phylogenetic data suggested the presence of allopatric cryptic species allied to Euphlyctis hexadactylus in Sundarban, Bangladesh and several parapatric cryptic species in the Western Ghats, India. The presence of at least two allopatric cryptic species among diverged Euphlyctis cyanophlyctis in Bangladesh, India, and Sri Lanka was also suggested. In some cases, our estimated divergence times matched the paleogeological events of South and Southeast Asian regions that may have led to the divergence of Hoplobatrachus and Euphlyctis taxa. Especially, land formation at Bangladesh (15-10 Ma) may have allowed the spread of these frog taxa to Southeast Asian areas, and the aridification of central India (5.1-1.6 Ma) might have affected the gene flow of widely distributed species. The present study revealed prior underestimation of the richness of the amphibian fauna in this region, indicating the possible occurrence of many cryptic species among these groups. (c) 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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