Phylogenetic relationships of toads of the Rhinella granulosa group (Anura: Bufonidae): a molecular perspective with comments on hybridization and introgression

The Rhinella granulosa group consists of 13 species of toads distributed throughout open areas of South America and Panama. In this paper we perform a phylogenetic analysis considering all but one species of the group, employing five nuclear and four mitochondrial genes, for up to 7910 bp per specimen. Separate phylogenetic analyses under direct optimization (DO) of nuclear and mitochondrial sequences recovered the R. granulosa group as monophyletic and revealed topological incongruence that can be explained mainly by multiple events of hybridization and introgression, both mitochondrial and nuclear. The DO combined analysis, after the exclusion of putatively introgressed or heterozygous genomes, resulted in a phylogenetic hypothesis for the R. granulosa group in which most of the species are recovered as monophyletic, but with interspecific relationships poorly supported. The optimization of morphological (adult and larval), chromosomal, and behavioural characters resulted in 12 putative phenotypic synapomorphies for this species group and some other synapomorphies for internal clades. Our results indicate the need for additional population genetic studies on R. dorbignyi and R. fernandezae to corroborate the taxonomic status of both taxa. Finally, we discuss biological and genetic characteristics of Bufonidae, as possible explanations for the common occurrence of hybridization and introgression observed in some lineages of this family.Fil: Pereyra, Martín Oscar. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia"; ArgentinaFil: Baldo, Juan Diego. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Misiones. Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias Sociales. Departamento de Genética. Laboratorio de Genética Evolutiva y Molecular; ArgentinaFil: Blotto Acuña, Boris Leonardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia"; Argentina. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Iglesias, Patricia Paola. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Thomé, Maria T.C.. Universidade Estadual Paulista Julio de Mesquita Filho; BrasilFil: Haddad, Célio F.B.. Universidade Estadual Paulista Julio de Mesquita Filho; BrasilFil: Barrio Amorós, César. Instituto de Biodiversidad Tropical; Costa RicaFil: Ibáñez, Roberto. Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute; Panamá. Universidad de Panamá; Panamá. Estafeta Universitaria; PanamáFil: Faivovich, Julián. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia"; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental; Argentin

Frogs at the summits: phylogeny of the Andean frogs of the genus Telmatobius (Anura, Telmatobiidae) based on phenotypic characters

A phylogenetic hypothesis for the frogs of the genus Telmatobius that includes a comprehensive sample of the morphological and geographical variation is lacking. To obtain such hypothesis constitutes the main focus of this contribution. A phylogenetic matrix was generated based on 97 phenotypic characters and 56 terminals. A parsimony analysis of this matrix was performed with TNT. Telmatobius is found to be monophyletic and well supported by 11 synapomorphies. Although the consensus tree shows several polytomies, four main groups have been recovered. The well supported T. verrucosus Group includes forest and sub-paramo species, and is the sister group of the rest of the species. The T. bolivianus Group includes forest and inter-Andean valley species but it is poorly supported. Two supported high altitude groups have been recovered, the T. macrostomus Group from the Central Andes of Peru, and the T. marmoratus Group from the Altiplano-Puna Plateau of Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, and Chile and its adjacent Pacific and Northern slopes. The synapomorphies proposed for Telmatobius are discussed as well as the evolution of some of these synapomorphies and other characters within the genus.Fil: Barrionuevo, Jose Sebastian. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia"; Argentin