Specimens from across the range of the Hyperolius nasutus species group were sequenced for two mitochondrial genes and one nuclear gene. Advertisement calls were recorded from the same specimens where possible, and morphological characters were compared. Bayesian inference and maximum likelihood produced a tree indicating 16 clades. The clades show little or no overlap in combinations of 16S sequence difference, shared tyr haplotypes, advertisement call parameters, snout profiles and webbing. On the basis of these data we recognise H. acuticeps, H. adspersus, H. benguellensis, H. dartevellei, H. igbettensis, H. nasutus, H. nasicus, H. poweri, H. viridis and describe six new species: Hyperolius friedemanni sp. nov. Mercurio & Rödel, Hyperolius howelli sp. nov. Du Preez & Channing, Hyperolius inyangae sp. nov. Channing, Hyperolious jacobseni sp. nov. Channing, Hyperolius rwandae sp. nov. Dehling, Sinsch, Rödel & Channing, and Hyperolius lupiroensis sp. nov. Channing. Hyperolius lamottei is confirmed to be outside the H. nasutus group clade. Hyperolius granulatus, H. oxyrhynchus, H. punctulatus and H. sagitta are assigned as junior synonyms. As our results are based on a small number of specimens, these hypotheses await testing with larger sample sizes and more characters. A species distribution model suggests where outlier populations might be found.

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Theory predicts that sexually dimorphic traits under strong sexual selection, particularly those involved with intersexual signaling, can accelerate speciation and produce bursts of diversification. Sexual dichromatism (sexual dimorphism in color) is widely used as a proxy for sexual selection and is associated with rapid diversification in several animal groups, yet studies using phylogenetic comparative methods to explicitly test for an association between sexual dichromatism and diversification have produced conflicting results. Sexual dichromatism is rare in frogs, but it is both striking and prevalent in African reed frogs, a major component of the diverse frog radiation termed Afrobatrachia. In contrast to most other vertebrates, reed frogs display female-biased dichromatism in which females undergo color transformation, often resulting in more ornate coloration in females than in males. We produce a robust phylogeny of Afrobatrachia to investigate the evolutionary origins of sexual dichromatism in this radiation and examine whether the presence of dichromatism is associated with increased rates of net diversification. We find that sexual dichromatism evolved once within hyperoliids and was followed by numerous independent reversals to monochromatism. We detect significant diversification rate heterogeneity in Afrobatrachia and find that sexually dichromatic lineages have double the average net diversification rate of monochromatic lineages. By conducting trait simulations on our empirical phylogeny, we demonstrate that our inference of trait-dependent diversification is robust. Although sexual dichromatism in hyperoliid frogs is linked to their rapid diversification and supports macroevolutionary predictions of speciation by sexual selection, the function of dichromatism in reed frogs remains unclear. We propose that reed frogs are a compelling system for studying the roles of natural and sexual selection on the evolution of sexual dichromatism across micro- and macroevolutionary timescales.

Our knowledge of the conservation status of reptiles, the most diverse class of terrestrial vertebrates, has improved dramatically over the past decade, but still lags behind that of the other tetrapod groups. Here, we conduct the first comprehensive evaluation (~92% of the world's ~1714 described species) of the conservation 1 Joint senior authors. D.G. Chapple et al.

4République du Congo Theory predicts that sexually dimorphic traits under strong sexual selection, particularly those resulting in more ornate coloration in females than in males. We produce a robust phylogeny of 8 9Afrobrachia to investigate the evolutionary origins of sexual dichromatism in this radiation and 9 0 examine whether the presence of dichromatism is associated with increased rates of net 9 1 . CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license It is made available under a was not peer-reviewed) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity.The copyright holder for this preprint (which . http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/372250 doi: bioRxiv preprint first posted online Jul. 22, 2018; 5 diversification. We find that sexual dichromatism evolved once within hyperoliids and was 9 2 followed by numerous independent reversals to monochromatism. We detect significant 9 3 diversification rate heterogeneity in Afrobatrachia and find that sexually dichromatic lineages 9 4 have double the average net diversification rate of monochromatic lineages. By conducting trait 9 5 simulations on our empirical phylogeny, we demonstrate our inference of trait-dependent 9 6 diversification is robust. Although sexual dichromatism in hyperoliid frogs is linked to their 9 7 rapid diversification and supports macroevolutionary predictions of speciation by sexual 9 8 selection, the function of dichromatism in reed frogs remains unclear. We propose that reed frogs 9 9 are a compelling system for studying the roles of natural and sexual selection on the evolution of 1 0 0 sexual dichromatism across both micro-and macroevolutionary timescales.

Aim To investigate models assessing the influence of geomorphology and climatic shifts on species diversification in sub‐Saharan Africa by reconstructing the pattern and timing of phylogenetic relationships of rain frogs (Brevicipitidae: Breviceps). Location Sub‐Saharan Africa, south of the Congo Basin. Methods Multilocus sequence data were generated for near complete species‐level sampling of the genus Breviceps. Phylogenetic relationships were inferred via Bayesian inference and maximum likelihood analyses on both concatenated and single‐gene datasets. Network analyses identified locus‐specific reticulate relationships among taxa. Bayesian methods were used to infer dates of divergence among Breviceps lineages, and niche modelling was used to identify possible adaptive divergence. Results Breviceps is monophyletic and comprised of two major, largely allopatric subclades. Diversity within each subclade is concentrated in two areas with contrasting geologic and climatic histories: the arid/semiarid winter rainfall zone in the south‐western (SW) Cape, and the semitropical East Coast that receives predominantly summer rainfall. Recognized species diversity in the SW Cape based on phenotypic variation is consistent with observed genetic patterns whereas the East Coast is shown to harbour unexpectedly high genetic diversity and up to seven putative, cryptic species. Niche models show significant overlap between closely related species. Main conclusions Dating analyses indicate that diversification of Breviceps occurred rapidly within the Miocene, with only a moderate decline over the Plio‐Pleistocene, suggesting that this process might be slowed but ongoing. Our findings suggest that a combination of two models, a landscape barrier model and climate fluctuation model, can explain patterns of diversification in Breviceps. This demonstrates that Miocene epeirogenic events and climatic shifts may have had a considerable influence on contemporary patterns of biodiversity. Topographic complexity and relative geoclimatic stability in the East have promoted cryptic diversification in allopatry, and this area clearly harbours numerous undescribed taxa and is in need of detailed biotic investigation.

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