Endemic ranid (Amphibia: Anura) genera in southern mountain ranges of the Indian subcontinent represent ancient frog lineages: evidence from molecular data

DNA barcoding reveals unprecedented diversity in Dancing Frogs of India (Micrixalidae, Micrixalus): a taxonomic revision with description of 14 new species

“…Some of the species, originally described in the Rhacophorid genus Philautus, were transferred to Micrixalus recently (Bossuyt and Dubois, 2001), and subsequently Micrixalidae was proposed as a distinct family . Roelants et al (2004) provided the first evidence for ancient origin of this family along with showing Ranixalidae and Nyctibatrachidae as its closest relatives, and further discussed the evolutionary significance of these endemic lineages.…”

“…The Western Ghats is one of the major centers of global biodiversity, remarkable for its diverse flora and fauna as well as their origin and patterns of evolution (Biju and Bossuyt, 2003;Bossuyt and Milinkovitch, 2001;Bossuyt et al, 2004;Briggs, 2003;Mittermeier et al, 2004;Roelants et al, 2004;Van Bocxlaer et al, 2012). The Western Ghats primarily consists of a long north-south orientated mountain chain, extending from Gujarat in the north (21.00° N) to the southern tip of Peninsular India in Tamil Nadu (08.25° N) and covering a distance of approximately 1,600 km.…”

“…The Western Ghats primarily consists of a long north-south orientated mountain chain, extending from Gujarat in the north (21.00° N) to the southern tip of Peninsular India in Tamil Nadu (08.25° N) and covering a distance of approximately 1,600 km. Its historical isolation from neighbouring regions and consistent history of humid tropical to subtropical climate has resulted in ideal conditions for amphibian speciation and a high level of generic and familial endemism (Biju andBossuyt, 2003, 2009;Biju et al, 2008Biju et al, , 2011Bossuyt et al, 2004;Roelants et al, 2004).…”

Molecular phylogeny and diversification of the genus Odorrana (Amphibia, Anura, Ranidae) inferred from two mitochondrial genes

“…Divergence age estimates were established in this study for R. cretensis and R. bedriagae (log-normal distribution with youngest of 5 MY and standard deviation [SD] of 0.159) based on geological data (5-5.5 MY) (Dermitzakis, 1990;Beerli et al, 1996). Divergence between R. signata and R. chalconota (25 MY, 1.264 SD) was estimated based on a multiple gene/calibration analysis (25-33 MY) (Bossuyt et al, 2006;Roelants et al, 2004). Analyses were executed with 20 million generations while sampling every 1000th tree.…”

The Systematic Status of Rhacophorid Frogs

“…The "out-of-India" hypothesis (Bossuyt and Milinkovitch, 2001;Roelants et al, 2004) deals with higher taxa on a global scale, including South America, Africa, Madagascar, peninsular India and Australia. Fine-scale biogeographic patterns can explain how the rhacophorids dispersed out of India to East and Southeast Asia.…”