15 research outputs found

    Data from: Two new species of long-fingered frogs of the genus Cardioglossa (Anura: Arthroleptidae) from Central African rainforests

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    We describe two new frog species of Cardioglossa (Family Arthroleptidae) from Central Africa. The new species are found in the rainforests of western-central Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo near the Gabonese border, respectively. We demonstrate that these species are morphologically and genetically distinct from each other and all other species of Cardioglossa. Both new species lack the dorsal hour-glass pattern present in many species of the genus, but they can be distinguished from each other and related species by distinctive colour patterns on their lateral surfaces and extremities. Both new species most closely resemble C. gratiosa, which occurs in the Atlantic coastal forests extending from Cameroon through Gabon. The new species can be differentiated from C. gratiosa by the absence of black transverse bars on all limbs or by distinctive lateral colouration. Analysis of mitochondrial ribosomal 16S DNA sequences reveals low to moderate levels (1.9–7.5%) of divergence between these new species and closely related species of Cardioglossa. The floodplains of the Congo and Ubangi Rivers may be important geographic barriers for many of these species. The occurrence of these two new lowland species in the Congo Basin reveals that the distribution and diversity of Cardioglossa in this region was underestimated. In addition, we elevate C. nigromaculata inornata to species-level status, based in part on newly available colour photographs from 1950 of specimens from the only known locality

    Two new Phrynobatrachus species (Amphibia: Anura: Phrynobatrachidae) from the Republic of the Congo

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    We describe two new species of puddle frogs, genus Phrynobatrachus, from the south-western Republic of the Congo. One of them, P. horsti sp. nov., occurs also in neighbouring Gabon and is morphologically most similar to the Cameroonian P. ruthbeateae. It differs from the latter species by smaller males with longer thighs and shanks. The new species comprises various colour morphs but always has less conspicuous black borders between flanks and belly than P. ruthbeateae. The distinct and large black axillary blotch of P. ruthbeateae is either much smaller in P. horsti sp. nov., or broken into numerous irregularly shaped smaller dots. Similarly, a black transversal line at the anterior ventral border of thighs and the black face mask is less distinct and irregularly delimitated in P. horsti sp. nov. when compared to P. ruthbeateae. The mean genetic difference in the sampled region of the 16S rRNA gene between P. horsti sp. nov. and 40 other western African congeners range from 3.66-18.10%. The second new species, P. mayokoensis sp. nov., differs from all other known congeners by the combination of a compact and warty body, the absence of a spiny eyelid tubercle and pedal webbing, a conspicuous black triangle on throat and anterior part of the belly, and a distinct large red blotch on the anteriorproximal surface of the thighs. It exhibited a mean genetic difference in the 16S rRNA to 40 other western African congeners ranging from 1.34-16.98%. The genetically most similar sequence stems from a GenBank entry of a Gabonese frog, determined as P. ogoensis. A comparison of the new species with P. ogoensis syntypes confirmed their specific distinctiveness, most convincingly underlined by the absence of pedal webbing in the new species and the pronounced pedal webbing in P. ogoensis. The GenBank entry thus most likely is based on a misidentification and P. mayokoensis sp. nov. may also occur in neighbouring Gabon. The discovery of the two new frog species is further evidence of the huge gap in our knowledge concerning the species richness in the Guineo-Congolian rainforest

    Diversity and biogeography of frogs in the genus Amnirana (Anura: Ranidae) across sub-Saharan Africa

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    Frogs in the genus Amnirana (family Ranidae) are widely distributed across sub-Saharan Africa and present a model system for exploring the relationship between diversification and geography across the continent. Using multiple loci from the mitochondrial (16S) and nuclear genomes (DISP2, FICD, KIAA2013, REV3L), we generated a strongly supported species-level phylogeny that provides insights into the continental biogeography of African species of Amnirana, which form a monophyletic group within the genus. Species delimitation analyses suggest that there may be as many as seven additional species of Amnirana in Africa. The biogeographic history of Amnirana is marked by several dispersal and vicariance events, including dispersal from the Lower Guinean Forest into the Congo Basin. In addition, phylogeographic patterns within two widespread species, A. albolabris and A. galamensis, reveal undescribed cryptic diversity. Populations assigned to A. albolabris in western Africa are more closely related to A. fonensis and require recognition as a distinct species. Our analyses reveal that the Lower and Upper Guinean Forest regions served as important centers of interspecific and intraspecific diversifications for Amnirana

    Climate Surface Layers

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    Climate surface layers in raster ascii format used as predictor variables in modeling exercise. Current, Mid Holocene, LGM and LIG refer to contemporary climate (1950-2000), Mid Holocene (~6000 years ago), Last Glacial Maximum (~22000 years ago) and Last Inter Glacial (~120000 years ago). All surfaces were generated by Jeremy Vanderwal

    Idiosyncratic responses to climate-driven forest fragmentation and marine incursions in reed frogs from Central Africa and the Gulf of Guinea Islands

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    Organismal traits interact with environmental variation to mediate how species respond to shared landscapes. Thus, differences in traits related to dispersal ability or physiological tolerance may result in phylogeographic discordance among co-distributed taxa, even when they are responding to common barriers. We quantified climatic suitability and stability, and phylogeographic divergence within three reed frog species complexes across the Guineo-Congolian forests and Gulf of Guinea archipelago of Central Africa to investigate how they responded to a shared climatic and geological history. Our species-specific estimates of climatic suitability through time are consistent with temporal and spatial heterogeneity in diversification among the species complexes, indicating that differences in ecological breadth may partly explain these idiosyncratic patterns. Likewise, we demonstrated that fluctuating sea levels periodically exposed a land bridge connecting Bioko Island with the mainland Guineo-Congolian forest and that habitats across the exposed land bridge likely enabled dispersal in some species, but not in others. We did not find evidence that rivers are biogeographic barriers across any of the species complexes. Despite marked differences in the geographic extent of stable climates and temporal estimates of divergence among the species complexes, we recovered a shared pattern of intermittent climatic suitability with recent population connectivity and demographic expansion across the Congo Basin. This pattern supports the hypothesis that genetic exchange across the Congo Basin during humid periods, followed by vicariance during arid periods, has shaped regional diversity. Finally, we identified many distinct lineages among our focal taxa, some of which may reflect incipient or unrecognized species

    Data from: Idiosyncratic responses to climate-driven forest fragmentation and marine incursions in reed frogs from Central Africa and the Gulf of Guinea Islands

    No full text
    Organismal traits interact with environmental variation to mediate how species respond to shared landscapes. Thus, differences in traits related to dispersal ability or physiological tolerance may result in phylogeographic discordance among co-distributed taxa, even when they are responding to common barriers. We quantified climatic suitability and stability, and phylogeographic divergence within three reed frog species complexes across the Guineo-Congolian forests and Gulf of Guinea archipelago of Central Africa to investigate how they responded to a shared climatic and geological history. Our species-specific estimates of climatic suitability through time are consistent with temporal and spatial heterogeneity in diversification among the species complexes, indicating that differences in ecological breadth may partly explain these idiosyncratic patterns. Likewise, we demonstrated that fluctuating sea levels periodically exposed a land bridge connecting Bioko Island with the mainland Guineo-Congolian forest and that habitats across the exposed land bridge likely enabled dispersal in some species, but not in others. We did not find evidence that rivers are biogeographic barriers across any of the species complexes. Despite marked differences in the geographic extent of stable climates and temporal estimates of divergence among the species complexes, we recovered a shared pattern of intermittent climatic suitability with recent population connectivity and demographic expansion across the Congo Basin. This pattern supports the hypothesis that genetic exchange across the Congo Basin during humid periods, followed by vicariance during arid periods, has shaped regional diversity. Finally, we identified many distinct lineages among our focal taxa, some of which may reflect incipient or unrecognized species

    Evolutionary history of burrowing asps (Lamprophiidae: Atractaspidinae) with emphasis on fang evolution and prey selection.

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    Atractaspidines are poorly studied, fossorial snakes that are found throughout Africa and western Asia, including the Middle East. We employed concatenated gene-tree analyses and divergence dating approaches to investigate evolutionary relationships and biogeographic patterns of atractaspidines with a multi-locus data set consisting of three mitochondrial (16S, cyt b, and ND4) and two nuclear genes (c-mos and RAG1). We sampled 91 individuals from both atractaspidine genera (Atractaspis and Homoroselaps). Additionally, we used ancestral-state reconstructions to investigate fang and diet evolution within Atractaspidinae and its sister lineage (Aparallactinae). Our results indicated that current classification of atractaspidines underestimates diversity within the group. Diversification occurred predominantly between the Miocene and Pliocene. Ancestral-state reconstructions suggest that snake dentition in these taxa might be highly plastic within relatively short periods of time to facilitate adaptations to dynamic foraging and life-history strategies

    Supplemental Figure 2

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    Figure S2. A chronogram of Afrobatrachia inferred from the multilocus BEAST analysis of 283 species. Taxa labeled with blue color denote the 153 species included in the hyperoliid species tree that was used as a partial constraint tree in this analysis. Node support values are not shown because the tree topology was fixed, but error bars representing the 95% HPD for dating estimates are provided

    Supplemental Figure 5

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    Figure S5. Ancestral state reconstruction of the observed and hidden state combinations in Afrobatrachian frogs from the best-fit HiSSE model (HiSSE 19; Table 1). Squares at tips are colored by the observed character states (yellow: monochromatic, blue: sexually dichromatic), whereas node pie charts represent the probability of a state assignment to: 1) monochromatism + hidden state absent (yellow), 2) monochromatism + hidden state present (orange), 3) dichromatism + hidden state absent (blue), or 4) dichromatism + hidden state present (purple). No instance of the monochromatism + hidden state present is reconstructed on the phylogeny, whereas a transition to the dichromatism + hidden state present combination is inferred once in the MRCA of two monotypic genera (Cryptothylax, Morerella), indicating a near absence of the hidden state across the entire tree
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