The role of climatic and geological events in generating diversity in Ethiopian grass frogs (genus Ptychadena)
Ethiopia is a world biodiversity hotspot and harbours levels of biotic endemism unmatched in the Horn of Africa, largely due to topographic—and thus habitat—complexity, which results from a very active geological and climatic history. Among Ethiopian vertebrate fauna, amphibians harbour the highest...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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The Royal Society
2017-01-01
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| Series: | Royal Society Open Science |
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| Online Access: | https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsos.170021 |
| _version_ | 1818452242676580352 |
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| author | Megan L. Smith Brice P. Noonan Timothy J. Colston |
| author_facet | Megan L. Smith Brice P. Noonan Timothy J. Colston |
| author_sort | Megan L. Smith |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Ethiopia is a world biodiversity hotspot and harbours levels of biotic endemism unmatched in the Horn of Africa, largely due to topographic—and thus habitat—complexity, which results from a very active geological and climatic history. Among Ethiopian vertebrate fauna, amphibians harbour the highest levels of endemism, making amphibians a compelling system for the exploration of the impacts of Ethiopia's complex abiotic history on biotic diversification. Grass frogs of the genus Ptychadena are notably diverse in Ethiopia, where they have undergone an evolutionary radiation. We used molecular data and expanded taxon sampling to test for cryptic diversity and to explore diversification patterns in both the highland radiation and two widespread lowland Ptychadena. Species delimitation results support the presence of nine highland species and four lowland species in our dataset, and divergence dating suggests that both geologic events and climatic fluctuations played a complex and confounded role in the diversification of Ptychadena in Ethiopia. We rectify the taxonomy of the endemic P. neumanni species complex, elevating one formally synonymized name and describing three novel taxa. Finally, we describe two novel lowland Ptychadena species that occur in Ethiopia and may be more broadly distributed. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-14T21:19:59Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c93ea4b5c333486ea90298c533352871 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2054-5703 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-14T21:19:59Z |
| publishDate | 2017-01-01 |
| publisher | The Royal Society |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Royal Society Open Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-c93ea4b5c333486ea90298c5333528712022-12-21T22:46:58ZengThe Royal SocietyRoyal Society Open Science2054-57032017-01-014810.1098/rsos.170021170021The role of climatic and geological events in generating diversity in Ethiopian grass frogs (genus Ptychadena)Megan L. SmithBrice P. NoonanTimothy J. ColstonEthiopia is a world biodiversity hotspot and harbours levels of biotic endemism unmatched in the Horn of Africa, largely due to topographic—and thus habitat—complexity, which results from a very active geological and climatic history. Among Ethiopian vertebrate fauna, amphibians harbour the highest levels of endemism, making amphibians a compelling system for the exploration of the impacts of Ethiopia's complex abiotic history on biotic diversification. Grass frogs of the genus Ptychadena are notably diverse in Ethiopia, where they have undergone an evolutionary radiation. We used molecular data and expanded taxon sampling to test for cryptic diversity and to explore diversification patterns in both the highland radiation and two widespread lowland Ptychadena. Species delimitation results support the presence of nine highland species and four lowland species in our dataset, and divergence dating suggests that both geologic events and climatic fluctuations played a complex and confounded role in the diversification of Ptychadena in Ethiopia. We rectify the taxonomy of the endemic P. neumanni species complex, elevating one formally synonymized name and describing three novel taxa. Finally, we describe two novel lowland Ptychadena species that occur in Ethiopia and may be more broadly distributed.https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsos.170021amphibianscoalescent species delimitationdivergence datingethiopiaptychadenidae |
| spellingShingle | Megan L. Smith Brice P. Noonan Timothy J. Colston The role of climatic and geological events in generating diversity in Ethiopian grass frogs (genus Ptychadena) Royal Society Open Science amphibians coalescent species delimitation divergence dating ethiopia ptychadenidae |
| title | The role of climatic and geological events in generating diversity in Ethiopian grass frogs (genus Ptychadena) |
| title_full | The role of climatic and geological events in generating diversity in Ethiopian grass frogs (genus Ptychadena) |
| title_fullStr | The role of climatic and geological events in generating diversity in Ethiopian grass frogs (genus Ptychadena) |
| title_full_unstemmed | The role of climatic and geological events in generating diversity in Ethiopian grass frogs (genus Ptychadena) |
| title_short | The role of climatic and geological events in generating diversity in Ethiopian grass frogs (genus Ptychadena) |
| title_sort | role of climatic and geological events in generating diversity in ethiopian grass frogs genus ptychadena |
| topic | amphibians coalescent species delimitation divergence dating ethiopia ptychadenidae |
| url | https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsos.170021 |
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