Phylogeographic patterns in North African water frog Pelophylax saharicus (Anura: Ranidae)

Abstract

We studied the phylogeography of the Sahara frog in North Africa. We widely sampled frogs from Morocco to Tunisia (195 individuals) and sequenced two mitochondrial (16S and CO1) and one nuclear (Rag1) genes. Our results confirm that Moroccan populations of Pelophylax saharicus are genetically distinct from Algerian ones. Specimens from Alger and Djelfa (central Algeria) are genetically closer to Moroccan specimens than to east Algerian ones, and the split between these two lineages may have occurred approximately 2.6 Mya. A similar pattern of differentiation was observed in several other species and was hypothesized to be linked to the formation of the fossil island called the 'Edough Peninsula' in eastern Algeria around 4.2 Ma and then to have been reinforced by Pleistocene climatic changes. At the Moroccan scale, we found a low level of genetic diversity and no clear phylogeographic pattern within P. saharicus. However, our SAShA analyses revealed a mixture of random and underdistributed haplotypes, which may indicate a complex population genetic or biogeographic history.

Phylogeography and ecological niche modeling unravel the evolutionary history of the African green toad,Bufotes boulengeri boulengeri(Amphibia: Bufonidae), through the Quaternary

“…This low mitochondrial structure at continental scale contrasts with the east–west divergence that has been commonly found in previous phylogeographic studies of North African organisms (see Nicolas et al., for a series of examples). The African green toad is a relatively large amphibian that is supposed to travel considerable distances during its 4‐ to 5‐year lifespan, like its congener B. viridis , allowing considerable gene flow between populations (Langton, ).…”

“…While strong phylogeographic structure is commonly found in amphibian species across the Maghreb region (Ben Hassine, Gutiérrez‐Rodríguez, Escoriza, & Martínez‐Solano, ; Nicolas, Mataame, Crochet, Geniez, & Ohler, ; Recuero, Iraola, Rubio, Machordom, & Garcia‐Paris, ; Vences et al., ), previous studies on B. b. boulengeri uncovered a surprisingly weak intraspecific differentiation over its geographic range (Batista, Carranza, Carretero, & Harris ; Stöck et al., , ). This is especially unexpected because fossil data indicate that the African green toad has been present in North Africa since the beginning of the Pleistocene (2.5 Ma in Morocco, (Bailon, ).…”

Pleistocene diversification in Morocco and recent demographic expansion in the Mediterranean pond turtleMauremys leprosa

“…Conversely, putative barriers, such as the arid valley of Moulouya, acted as an effective barrier to population dispersal of several taxa (e.g. Fritz et al ., ; Vences et al ., ; Lalis et al ., ; Nicolas et al ., ). Our results show a series of evidence that supports a demographic expansion of sublineage B3 from Morocco eastwards to Tunisia.…”

“…Contrary to the observed patterns reported for many taxa throughout the Maghreb region that show deep genetic divergence (e.g. Cosson et al ., ; Fritz et al ., ; Rato, Carranza & Harris, ; Velo‐Antón et al ., ; Stuckas et al ., ; Lalis et al ., ; Nicolas et al ., ; Ben Hassine et al ., ), our study shows that diversification events in M. leprosa were restricted to Morocco, where all present sublineages occur. The genetic pattern observed in M. leprosa partially coincides with the phylogeographic pattern of Buthus scorpions (Sousa et al ., ), revealing cryptic diversity in the northwestern Maghreb region.…”

Second Sahelian amphibian endemism suggested by phylogeography of Groove crowned Bullfrog ( Hoplobatrachus occipitalis ) in western Sahel and hints of polyploid species formation

“…Diploid hybridization could only explain this if there was a geographic separation between lineages immediately after a very brief contact and that separation was maintained, which does not seem to be the case amphibians, the same pattern is likely for H. occipitalis as well Vale, Tarroso, & Brito, 2014). In the north-western side of the Sahara, some amphibians species also present low genetic diversity, probably due to similar climatic constraints (Nicolas et al, 2015). Although an apparently common pattern in arid species, this shallow phylogeographic structure contrasts with the general pattern of amphibians retaining a strong phylogeographic signal and having low dispersal capacity (Zeisset & Beebee, 2008).…”