High Levels of Diversity Uncovered in a Widespread Nominal Taxon: Continental Phylogeography of the Neotropical Tree Frog

Species distributed across vast continental areas and across major biomes provide unique model systems for studies of biotic diversification, yet also constitute daunting financial, logistic and political challenges for data collection across such regions. The tree frog Dendropsophus minutus (Anura: Hylidae) is a nominal species, continentally distributed in South America, that may represent a complex of multiple species, each with a more limited distribution. To understand the spatial pattern of molecular diversity throughout the range of this species complex, we obtained DNA sequence data from two mitochondrial genes, cytochrome oxidase I (COI) and the 16S rhibosomal gene (16S) for 407 samples of D. minutus and closely related species distributed across eleven countries, effectively comprising the entire range of the group. We performed phylogenetic and spatially explicit phylogeographic analyses to assess the genetic structure of lineages and infer ancestral areas. We found 43 statistically supported, deep mitochondrial lineages, several of which may represent currently unrecognized distinct species. One major clade, containing 25 divergent lineages, includes samples from the type locality of D. minutus. We defined that clade as the D. minutus complex. The remaining lineages together with the D. minutus complex constitute the D. minutus species group. Historical analyses support an Amazonian origin for the D. minutus species group with a subsequent dispersal to eastern Brazil where the D. minutus complex originated. According to our dataset, a total of eight mtDNA lineages have ranges >100,000 km2. One of them occupies an area of almost one million km2 encompassing multiple biomes. Our results, at a spatial scale and resolution unprecedented for a Neotropical vertebrate, confirm that widespread amphibian species occur in lowland South America, yet at the same time a large proportion of cryptic diversity still remains to be discovered

Data from: What happened in the South American Gran Chaco? Diversification of the endemic frog genus Lepidobatrachus Budgett, 1899 (Anura: Ceratophryidae)

The Chaco is one the most neglected and least studied regions of the world. This highly-seasonal semiarid biome is an extensive continuous plain without any geographic barrier, and in spite of its high species diversity, the events and processes responsible have never been assessed. Miocene marine introgressions and Pleistocene glaciations have been mentioned as putative drivers of diversification for some groups of vertebrates in adjacent biomes of southern South America. Here we used multilocus data (one mitochondrial and six nuclear loci) from the three species of the endemic frog genus Lepidobatrachus (Lepidobatrachus asper, Lepidobatrachus laevis, and Lepidobatrachus llanensis) to determine if any of the historical events suggested as drivers of vertebrate diversification in southern South America are related to the diversification of the genus and if the Chaco is indeed a biome without barriers. Using fossil calibration in a coalescent framework we estimated that the genus diversified in the second half of the Miocene, coinciding with marine introgressions. Genetic patterns and historical demography suggest an important role of old archs and cratons as refuges during floods. In one species of the genus, L. llanensis, genetic structure reveals some breaks along the landscape, the main one of which corresponds to an area of the central Chaco that may act as a climatic barrier. Additionally, we found differential effects of the main Chacoan rivers on species of Lepidobatrachus that could be related to the time of persistence of populations in the areas influenced by these rivers

Multiscale endemism analysis for amphibians of Paraguay

Although there are many studies that analyse and describe the distribution patterns of diverse organisms in South America at different scales, Paraguay has been poorly assessed from a biogeographic point of view. Some of the available contributions on the biogeography of Paraguay are based on different taxonomic groups, such as mammals, birds, reptiles, and plants, describing relationships between species and their habitats by using indices of similarity and cluster analysis. The main objective of this contribution is to identify areas of endemism based on the distribution of the 87 amphibian species known from Paraguay, and to compare the results with the three schemes of ecoregion proposed for the country. Eight areas of endemism were identified at different size of grids/scales, congruent with Dry Chaco, Atlantic Forest, Cerrado, Grasslands of Mesopotamia, Ñeembucú, and the Great American Chaco ecoregions.Fil: Cabral, Hugo. Instituto de Investigación Biológica del Paraguay; ParaguayFil: Casagranda, Maria Dolores. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico - Tucumán. Unidad Ejecutora Lillo; ArgentinaFil: Brusquetti, Francisco. Instituto de Investigación Biológica del Paraguay; ParaguayFil: Netto, F.. Instituto de Biociências; BrasilFil: Ferreira, V. l.. 5itaipu Binacional División de Áreas Protegidas, Direcc; ParaguayFil: Lavilla, Esteban Orlando. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico - Tucumán. Unidad Ejecutora Lillo; Argentin

A new species of ischnocnema parva species series (Anura, Brachycephalidae) from northern state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Here we describe a new species of the Ischnocnema parva species series from the Parque Estadual do Desengano, in the northern part of the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. We use morphology and mtDNA sequences to allocate the new species into the I. parva species series. The new species is closely related to I. parva genetically and morphologically, from which it is diagnosable by (1) the presence of a well-developed calcar tubercle, (2) a reduced Toe I, (3) a deep V-shaped median slit on the dorsal surface of toe discs, and (4) externally indistinct tympanum and tympanic annulus.Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq

MVZ39/40

Alignment for Lepidobatrachus asper, L. laevis and L. llanensis (outgroup: Ceratophrys aurita) sequences less than 200 base pairs long at locus MVZ 39/40 X. laevis MGC82783 protein (Intron)

High levels of diversity uncovered in a widespread nominal taxon : continental phylogeography of the Neotropical tree frog Dendropsophus minutus

Species distributed across vast continental areas and across major biomes provide unique model systems for studies of biotic diversification, yet also constitute daunting financial, logistic and political challenges for data collection across such regions. The tree frog Dendropsophus minutus (Anura: Hylidae) is a nominal species, continentally distributed in South America, that may represent a complex of multiple species, each with a more limited distribution. To understand the spatial pattern of molecular diversity throughout the range of this species complex, we obtained DNA sequence data from two mitochondrial genes, cytochrome oxidase I (COI) and the 16S rhibosomal gene (16S) for 407 samples of D. minutus and closely related species distributed across eleven countries, effectively comprising the entire range of the group. We performed phylogenetic and spatially explicit phylogeographic analyses to assess the genetic structure of lineages and infer ancestral areas. We found 43 statistically supported, deep mitochondrial lineages, several of which may represent currently unrecognized distinct species. One major clade, containing 25 divergent lineages, includes samples from the type locality of D. minutus. We defined that clade as the D. minutus complex. The remaining lineages together with the D. minutus complex constitute the D. minutus species group. Historical analyses support an Amazonian origin for the D. minutus species group with a subsequent dispersal to eastern Brazil where the D. minutus complex originated. According to our dataset, a total of eight mtDNA lineages have ranges >100,000 km2. One of them occupies an area of almost one million km2 encompassing multiple biomes. Our results, at a spatial scale and resolution unprecedented for a Neotropical vertebrate, confirm that widespread amphibian species occur in lowland South America, yet at the same time a large proportion of cryptic diversity still remains to be discovered