Title
Species diversity and biogeography of an ancient frog clade from the Guiana Shield (Anura: Microhylidae: Adelastes, Otophryne, Synapturanus) exhibiting spectacular phenotypic diversification
Date Issued
01 February 2021
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Fouquet A.
Leblanc K.
Framit M.
Réjaud A.
Rodrigues M.T.
Castroviejo-Fisher S.
Peloso P.L.V.
Prates I.
Manzi S.
Suescun U.
Baroni S.
Moraes L.J.C.L.
Recoder R.
De Souza S.M.
Dal Vecchio F.
Camacho A.
Ghellere J.M.
Rojas-Runjaic F.J.M.
De Carvalho V.T.
Gordo M.
Menin M.
Kok P.J.R.
Hrbek T.
Werneck F.P.
Crawford A.J.
Ron S.R.
Mueses-Cisneros J.J.
Rojas Zamora R.R.
Pavan D.
Ivo Simões P.
Ernst R.
Fabre A.C.
Publisher(s)
Oxford University Press
Abstract
The outstanding biodiversity of the Guiana Shield has raised many questions about its origins and evolution. Frogs of the genera Adelastes, Otophryne and Synapturanus form an ancient lineage distributed mostly across this region. These genera display strikingly disparate morphologies and life-history traits. Notably, Synapturanus is conspicuously adapted to fossoriality and is the only genus within this group to have dispersed further into Amazonia. Moreover, morphological differences among Synapturanus species suggest different degrees of fossoriality that might be linked to their biogeographical history. Through integrative analysis of genetic, morphometric and acoustic data, we delimited 25 species in this clade, representing a fourfold increase. We found that the entire clade started to diversify ~55 Mya and Synapturanus ~30 Mya. Members of this genus probably dispersed three times out of the Guiana Shield both before and after the Pebas system, a wetland ecosystem occupying most of Western Amazonia during the Miocene. Using a three-dimensional osteological dataset, we characterized a high morphological disparity across the three genera. Within Synapturanus, we further characterized distinct phenotypes that emerged concomitantly with dispersals during the Miocene and possibly represent adaptations to different habitats, such as soils with different physical properties.
Start page
233
End page
256
Volume
132
Issue
2
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Ecología
Subjects
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85101034652
Source
Biological Journal of the Linnean Society
ISSN of the container
00244066
Sources of information:
Directorio de Producción Científica
Scopus