The phylogeny of Dendropsophini (Anura: Hylidae: Hylinae)

Abstract

The relationships of the hyline tribe Dendropsophini remain poorly studied, with most published analyses dealing with few of the species groups of Dendropsophus. In order to test the monophyly of Dendropsophini, its genera, and the species groups currently recognized in Dendropsophus, we performed a total evidence phylogenetic analysis. The molecular dataset included sequences of three mitochondrial and five nuclear genes from 210 terminals, including 12 outgroup species, the two species of Xenohyla, and 93 of the 108 recognized species of Dendropsophus. The phenomic dataset includes 46 terminals, one per species (34 Dendropsophus, one Xenohyla, and 11 outgroup species). Our results corroborate the monophyly of Dendropsophini and the reciprocal monophyly of Dendropsophus and Xenohyla. Some species groups of Dendropsophus are paraphyletic (the D. microcephalus, D. minimus, and D. parviceps groups, and the D. rubicundulus clade). On the basis of our results, we recognize nine species groups; for three of them (D. leucophyllatus, D. microcephalus, and D. parviceps groups) we recognize some nominal clades to highlight specific morphology or relationships and facilitate species taxonomy. We further discuss the evolution of oviposition site selection, where our results show multiple instances of independent evolution of terrestrial egg clutches during the evolutionary history of Dendropsophus.

A new species of the Dendropsophus decipiens Group (Anura: Hylidae) from Northeastern Brazil

“…The genus Dendropsophus Fitzinger, 1843 currently comprise 109 species broadly distributed across Neotropical rainforests and open areas from southern Mexico to northern Argentina and Uruguay, east of Andes [1]. Based on the recently published total evidence analysis of [2], combining phenomic and molecular datasets, nine species groups are currently recognized within this genus: D. ruschii, D. decipiens, D. parviceps, D. molitor, D. columbianus, D. marmoratus, D. minutus, D. leucophyllatus, and D. microcephalus. These authors made many substantial changes to the systematics of this genus with respect to that of [3], including the first molecular assessment for species in the D. decipiens Group.…”

“…The D. decipiens Group currently comprises five species (sensu [2]): D. berthalutzae (Bokermann, 1962), D. bromeliaceus Ferreira et al, 2015, D. decipiens (Lutz, 1925, D. haddadi (Bastos and Pombal, 1996) and D. oliveirai (Bokermann, 1963), which exhibits as synapomorphies 11 phenomic characters, small SVL (combined SVLs range from 13.0-21.4 mm for males and 18.0-24.0 mm for females) and a brownish or pale yellow dorsum coloration with a frame-like pattern [2]. Species of the D. decipiens Group are distributed along eastern Brazil and mostly associated with the Atlantic Forest [1], except for D. oliveirai which is also found in ecotonal areas of Caatinga (a seasonally dry tropical forest) and Atlantic Forest in northeastern Brazil from Bahia to Rio Grande do Norte States [1,5,6].…”

“…Species of the D. decipiens Group are distributed along eastern Brazil and mostly associated with the Atlantic Forest [1], except for D. oliveirai which is also found in ecotonal areas of Caatinga (a seasonally dry tropical forest) and Atlantic Forest in northeastern Brazil from Bahia to Rio Grande do Norte States [1,5,6]. More specifically, D. berthalutzae occurs along a narrow Atlantic Forest zone in southeastern Brazil from Paraná to Espírito Santo States, terminals assigned to D. decipiens occur across Bahia, Ceará, São Paulo, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro and Espírito Santo States, D. haddadi occurs from the Espírito Santo to Pernambuco States, and D. bromeliaceus is currently only known from rocky outcrops in the municipality of Santa Teresa, Espírito Santo, southeastern Brazil [1,2,4].…”

“…During field work in Atlantic Forest remnants of Pernambuco State, we collected individuals of the Dendropsophus decipiens Group that could not be assigned to any of the five currently recognized species, and genetically matches the clade D. decipiens V, highlighted as a candidate new species by [2]. The high levels of morphological similarity and intraspecific variation hinders the advance of taxonomic resolutions among Dendropsophus species [2,7,8], making the use of multiple lines of evidence highly desirable to elucidate patterns of cryptic diversity within the genus.…”

“…During field work in Atlantic Forest remnants of Pernambuco State, we collected individuals of the Dendropsophus decipiens Group that could not be assigned to any of the five currently recognized species, and genetically matches the clade D. decipiens V, highlighted as a candidate new species by [2]. The high levels of morphological similarity and intraspecific variation hinders the advance of taxonomic resolutions among Dendropsophus species [2,7,8], making the use of multiple lines of evidence highly desirable to elucidate patterns of cryptic diversity within the genus. In this sense, we combine morphological, acoustic and molecular data to describe the clade D. decipiens V of [2] as a new species, representing the sixth species of D. decipiens Group likely associated to the Atlantic Forest, and the first with the type locality within the Pernambuco Endemism Center, which represents one of the most endangered Atlantic Forest remnants in Brazil [9,10].…”