Five Independent Lineages Revealed by Integrative Taxonomy in the Dendropsophus nanus–Dendropsophus walfordi Species Complex

Abstract

One of the many taxonomic challenges found in the Dendropsophus microcephalus species group is the Dendropsophus walfordi distinction from D. nanus. Recent phylogenetic inferences have indicated the paraphyly of these species, although they were not designed to assess this issue. To contribute to the delimitation of these species, we analyzed the 12S, 16S and COI mitochondrial genes, the morphological traits, and the advertisement calls of specimens from northern Amazonia to Argentina, including the type localities of D. nanus and D. walfordi. Paraphyly of D. nanus with respect to D. walfordi was inferred by maximum-parsimony and Bayesian analyses, and five major clades exhibiting nonoverlapping geographic distributions were recognized. The bPTP and ABGD analyses supported the existence of five independently evolving lineages in this complex. Acoustic and morphological data clearly distinguished the clade that included the topotypes of D. walfordi from the others, corroborating the validity of this species. To avoid the paraphyly of D. nanus with respect to D. walfordi, we recognize the clade distributed from central-southern Brazil to Argentina as D. nanus, the clade distributed in Amazonia as D. walfordi, and discuss the existence of unnamed cryptic species closely related to D. nanus and D. walfordi.

Marine introgressions and Andean uplift drives diversification in neotropical Monkey tree frogs (Anura,Phyllomedusinae)

“…4E and F). These ndings suggest a progressive isolation of the core Phyllomedusinae in northern South America, agreeing with previous studies regarding the in uence of Paranaense sea in biogeographical history of herpetofauna (e.g., Magalhães, 2012;Seger et al, 2021). The subsequent regression of the Paranaense sea could have facilitated the colonisation of southern areas, helping to explain the diversi cation pattern we found.…”

Historical biogeography of neotropical Monkey tree frogs (Anura: Phyllomedusidae) indicates a diversification driven by dispersal and sympatry

“…Finally, all those lineages leave Western Amazonia coincidently with a period of recurring marine incursions of the Paranaense sea (Hernández et al, 2005). The resulting environmental changes may have limited Amazonia region southward, suggesting a progressive isolation of the crown group of Phyllomedusidae in northern South America, pointed by previous studies regarding the in uence of Paranaense sea in biogeographical history of herpetofauna (e.g., Magalhães, 2012;Seger et al, 2021). The subsequent regression of the Paranaense sea could have facilitated the colonisation of southern areas, helping to explain the diversi cation pattern we found.…”

Anurans (Amphibia: Anura) of the Brazilian state of Amapá, eastern Amazonia: species diversity and knowledge gaps

“…Despite being currently considered as separate species (Langone & Basso 1987), these are morphologically and genetically closely related to each other, with D. walfordi being frequently recovered within D. nanus, leaving it paraphyletic (Fouquet et al 2011;Medeiros et al 2013;Orrico et al 2021). Recently, Seger et al (2021) evaluated the D. nanus-D. walfordi complex with a broad molecular study and defined that D. nanus is the lineage inhabiting Paraguay, northeastern Argentina, and southern Brazil, whereas D. walfordi is the single lineage inhabiting Amazonia. Thus, we decided to adopt the name D. walfordi to records from both species within the state of Amapá.…”